V 

^ 






A^^ '-^ 



^^ v^^ 





v. \N' 


V.'^-: 




- 


^v 


"oo^ 


'^ 


.,>^ -^^^ 





,0 o 



V 



.c, 



x... 






,^ ,0^ 



/' 



.A'^' 






-«-^0^ ^..0 



\" .,^v- <" 



aV '^, 



.'^-e^ 






.>, ..-WJ^s" .^^ 









^0 o. 



v^' 






; ^ "*., 'S 



•^c 






c.^' -^^Va,^"". '^ ^.^ 









.<'^^^ 






<r> 



/>. 






.:w 






^^^ '^-^ ^^ 



« V ^ * A '^z ^ / . V "• ^t^^ 



^. 






.Oc 






%• 







..^"^-^ 











^ 



7 . -;^ ^^ 






-*< •' 



o 



c^ -Zi^-'/nV^ -J \K- 










<\ 






^0^^. 



^^ -n^ 



^0^.. 






~^^ 



$ 



THE PHILIPPINES 



UNDER SPANISH AND AMERICAN 

RULES 



BY 
C. H. FORBES-LINDSAY 



AUTHOR OF 



"India, Past and Present", "America's Insular Possessions", 
"Panama, the Isthmus and the Canal", etc. 



ILLUSTRATED 



PHILADELPHIA 

THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. 

1906 



-C' 



Plfl 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

NO^ 30 1906 

V, Copyright Entw / 

CLASS Xf\ l^Cn No. 

COPY-B. 



Copyright, 1906 
By the JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY 



0^ 



^ ^3lJ 



Honorable William Howard Taft 



DeMcateb 

BY PERMISSION TO THE 

HONORABLE WILLIAM H. TAFT 

First Civil Governor of the Philippines 
THAN WHOM NONE HAS LABORED MORE ASSIDUOUSLY 

In THE Cause of the Filipino 



PREFACE. 

Prior to 189 S, when iVmerica knocked rudely at her 
doors, the Philippine Archipelago was one of the most 
secluded portions of the earth. Only within the 
present generation have its ports been open to the 
commerce of the world. When the Archipelago 
passed into the possession of the United States there 
was not an American firm in Manila. The Islands 
have never been brought within the ever-extending 
bounds of tourist travel and are not yet upon a main 
steamship route, but are reached by a branch line 
from Hong Kong. 

Before the Spanish- American War brought us into 
intimate relations with the Philippine Islands, little 
had been published relating to them in this country 
or, indeed, in the English language. It is not strange, 
then, that the average American knew almost nothing 
about this country which is destined to play an im- 
portant part in the history of the United States, until 
his newspapers and magazines began to educate him. 
By this time we are well awake to the fact that the 
Filipinos are not naked savages and that their country 
is something more than the place from which we get 
Manila hemp. It is beginning to dawn upon us that 
the Filipinos and the Philippines represent great pos- 
sibilities, but few of us have an adequate conception 
of how great they are, or of the vast field for Amer- 
ican endeavor and enterprise afforded by them. 

In the past iew years the Philippines have evoked 
a constantly growing interest which most often takes 
the form of the concrete query : ^^Are the people good 
for anything and what are the islands worth ?" I 
have made an effort to answer this question with some 
degree of definiteness. 

V 



yJ tub PHILIPPINES 

For my statements regarding industries, resources, 
etc., I have depended, in the main, upon the ample 
sources of information afforded by the U. S. War 
Department, having been taught by experience to 
regard them as the most reliable. 

I have avoided polemic discussion, because there 
are others much better qualified than myself to pass 
opinion on the controversial questions connected with 
the Philippines ; but that the reader, who will natu- 
rally look for some such expressions in a book of this 
kind, may be satisfied, I have fully remedied the 
deficiency on my part by inserting a chapter of ex- 
tracts from public addresses delivered by the Honor- 
able AVilliam H. Taft, who is recognized as the fore- 
most authority on our insular possessions in the 
Pacific. These addresses are the most direct, logical, 
and consistent statements of the conditions and pros- 
pects in the Philippine Islands, as well as the most 
clear and unequivocal expression of the policy of the 
American Government towards those islands. I much 
regret that the quotations are, necessarily, limited to 
a few brief extracts and strongly recommend the 
reading of the addresses in extenso to all who would 
have a clear idea of our relations to the Philippines 
and the problems involved in their administration. 

I take this opportunity to acknowledge my obliga- 
tions to Colonel Clarence R. Edwards, Chief of the 
Bureau of Insular Affairs, and the Assistant Chief, 
Captain Prank Mclntyre, who have rendered me val- 
uable assistance in the preparation of this volume. 

Philadelphia, April, 1906. 



CONTENTS 

THE PHILIPPINES 



CHAP. P-'^GE. 

I. General Description 17 

II. The Inhabitants 'i'5 

III. Early History 119 

IV. The Passing of Spanish Dominion 101 

V. American Administration 203 

VI. Commerce ^^^ 

VII. Agriculture 285 

VIII. Agriculture {Continued) 323 

IX. Public Lands, Timber, Minerals, etc 357 

X. Manila, Old and New 393 

XI. Luzon ^^^ 

XII. The Visayas ^^^ 

XIII. Mindanao and Sulu ^^^ 

XIV. Vital Issues "^^ ' 

INDEX ^^^ 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE PHILIPPINES 



PAGE. 

Manila Bay Frontispiece. 

Hon. William H. Taft Facing Dedication. ^ 

The Highlands of Benguet 22 '^ 

A Visayan Family 54 

Manila Cathedral 78 

A Head Hunter 110 '^ 

Chinese Mestizos 126 -^ 

LoMA Church 150 

FiLiPiNA Women 174 ' 

The Young Idea 190 

Office of a Justice 214 - 

Manila Hemp 230 " 

The Busy Pasig 254 "^ 

Cleaning Abaca 270 y 

A Rope Walk 294 / 

Farming in the Philippines 310 

Threshing Rice 350 . 

A Street Scene 382 ^ 

Taal Volcano 390 



.on/ 

Primitive Transportation 422 

A Humble Home 430 ^ 

Antique Defenses 454 

A Mestiza 4G2 ^ 

A Weaver 486 / 

A Village Scene 510 

Native Police 522 / 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 



THE PHILIPPINES. 



I. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

Physical Features — Luzon — Taal Lake and Volcano — The 
Story of an Eruption — Mayon Volcano — Rivers of Luzon 
— Cagayan and Isabela — A bra, Lepanto-Bontoc, and Nueva 
Vizcaya — I locos Norte, I locos Sur and La Union — Benguet 
— Pangasinan — Zambales — Bataan — Tarlac — Pampanga — 
Nueva Ecija — Bulacan — Rizal — Laguna — Cavite — Batan- 
gas — Tayabas — Ambos Camarines — Albay — Sorsogon — 
Railroad Extension — Marinduque — The Island of Mindoro 
— The Visayan Group — ^^Masbate — Samar — Leyte — Bohol — 
Cebu — Negros — Panay — Paragua — Mindanao — Sulu — Tawi 
Tawi — Fauna — Flora — Vegetable Products of Commercial 
Value — Minerals — Climate. 

The Philippine Archipelago extends from 4° 40' 
to 21° 10' north latitude and lies between the meridi- 
ans of 116° 40' and 126° 34' east longitude. The 
chain of islands commences in the north at a point 
within one hundred miles of Formosa and terminates 
with the Sulu Group, lying close to the northeast 
coast of Borneo. The nearest land on the east is 
one of th« Pelew Islands, in the possession of Ger- 
many, five hundred and ten miles distant, and on the 
west. Cochin China, distant five hundred and fifteen 
miles. 

2 (17) 



18 



THE PHILIPPINES. 



The most recent official enumeration gives a total 
of 3,141 islands to the Archipelago. Three-fourths 
of that number have areas of less than a square mile 
each; one-half are unnamed; and by far the majority 
are uninhabited. The aggregate area of the islands 
is 115,000 square miles ; that is, greater than the 
combined areas of the States of IN'ew York, Xew 
Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

In the broadest territorial division, the principal 
islands are thus classified: 



Island. Area in Sq. Miles. Population. 

1. Luzon 40,969 3,798,507 

2. Marinduque 352 50,001 

3. Mindoro 3,851 28,361 

4. Paragiia, or Palawan 4,027 10,918 

5. Visayan Islands. 

Masbate 1,236 29,451 

Samar 5,031 222,090 

Leyte 2,722 357,641 

Bobol 1,141 243,148 

Cebu 1,702 592,247 

Negros 4,881 460,776 

Panay 4,611 743,(>i6 

6. Mindanao 36,292 499,634 

7. Sulu Archipelago. 

Sulii, or Jolo 326 44,718 

Tawi Tawi 232 1,179 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



The prevailing physical features of the Philippines 
are mountain and forest. There are several broad 
valleys intersected by numerous streams, but ex- 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 19 

tensive plains and large rivers comparable with con- 
tinental standards are not to be fonnd in the islands. 
The Philippines have no deserts, nor even barren 
lava beds. Everywhere vegetation flourishes in ex- 
uberant variety. Very little of the scenery can be 
fairly termed grand, but almost everywhere it is made 
beautiful by the diversity and abundance of vegeta- 
tion which covers the hills and the lower slopes of 
the mountains. About seventy per cent, of the entire 
surface of the islands is covered with forest, including 
some of the most valuable species of trees in the world. 

The Archipelago is of volcanic origin, evidences 
of which are everywhere to be found in extinct or 
dormant volcanoes, at least ten having records of 
activity. 

To such an extent are the shores of the islands 
indented that, although their area is but one twenty- 
sixth that of the mainland of the United States, the 
coast line of the latter is less than half that of the 
Philippine Islands. Such a formation would gen- 
erally indicate the presence of a great number of har- 
bors, but as a matter of fact there are comparatively 
few of present commercial utility. Shoals and reefs ; 
the absence of lights and channel buoys ; and the 
lack of reliable charts render many deep water anchor- 
ages impracticable for vessels of heavy burthen. 
Most of the anchorages are only available during a 
portion of the year owing to the alternating character 
of the winds. Prom June to October the wind sets 



20 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in from the southwest, and during the remainder of 
the year the northwest monsoons prevail. There are, 
however, some exceptionally good harbors, that of 
Manila, upon which extensive improvements are rap- 
idly progressing toward completion, being one of 
the very best in the Orient. With the exception of 
Bohol, each of the principal islands has at least one 
harbor capable of accommodating vessels of the great- 
est draft. 

There are but three rivers attaining a length of two 
: hundred miles, namely, the Rio Grande de Cagayan, 
y of Luzon, and the Rio Grande and Agusan, of Min- 
danao. Aside from these, and the Pampanga, the 
Agno and the Abra, all of Luzon, there are no rivers 
in the islands exceeding a length of one hundred 
miles. However, economic importance cannot al- 
ways be gauged by figures. The Pasig, one of the 
shortest rivers in the country, carries the greatest 
commerce. It may be mentioned here as a curious 
fact, that the Lanao, of N^egros, although only nine 
miles in total length, has a width of one thousand 
feet and is twenty feet deep. 

LUZON. 

Luzon is the chief island of the Archipelago, and 
has contained the seat of government since the time 
of Legaspi. It is paramount in the matters of area, 
population and development. Its greatest length 
from northwest to southeast is four hundred and 



LUZON. 21 

eighty-nine miles, and its utmost breadth one hun- 
dred and thirty-eight miles. Its principal mountain 
range is the Sierra Madre, which, commencing in 
the extreme northeast corner of the island, follows 
an unbroken course of three hundred and fifty miles 
along the eastern coast to the Lag-una de Bay. The 
general elevation of the Sierra Madre is from 3,500 
to 4,500 feet, the latter figures being exceeded by a 
few summits. This range forms the eastern bound- 
ary of the great valley of the Cagayan, one of the 
two large and fertile stretches of comparative level 
on the island. Its length is one hundred and sixty 
miles and its breadth fifty miles. On the west the 
valley is bounded by the conglomeration of elevations 
and short mountain ranges styled the Caraballos Oc- 
cidentales, covering an area two hundred miles in 
length by seventy miles in breadth. This complex 
system embraces several peaks exceeding 6,000 feet 
in altitude. At the south, as at the north, a sub- 
sidiary range effects a junction between the Cara- 
ballos Occidentales and the Sierra Madre, so that 
these two mountain systems convert the northern part 
of Luzon into a basin of which they form the sides. 

The Zambales range extends the length of the prov- 
ince of that name, closely following the coast. It in- 
cludes many summits higher than 5,000 feet, and for 
a considerable distance maintains an average elevation 
of 4,000 feet. Extending fifty miles eastward from 
this range and southward to the distance of one hun- 



22 THE PHILIPPINES. 

dred and fifty miles from Lingayen Gulf, is a great, 
flat depression traversed by the rivers Pampanga, 
Agno and Pasig, and by innumerable small streams. 
A great deal of tlie land is alluvial soil. The valley 
is extremely fertile, and supports 1,750,000 souls, 
being about two-fifths of the popidation of the entire 
island. At the southern end of this valley is Laguna 
de Bay, a large, shallow body of water at no point 
more than twenty feet in depth. It is the source of 
the Pasig, at the mouth of which stands Manila. The 
shores of Laguna de Bay are thickly settled. A very 
large traffic is carried on amongst the to^\Tis and vil- 
lages along its littoral and between them and Manila. 
Southern Luzon has no defined mountain system, 
but grouped summits and isolated volcanic peaks are 
scattered over its surface. 

TAAL LAKE AND VOLCAl^O. 

Laguna de Bombon, or Lake Taal, is one of the 
most curious natural formations in the world. It is 
an immense crater, seventeen miles lonff bv twelve 
miles in breadth, surrounded, except upon the south- 
ern end, by a clearly defined rim several hundred 
feet in height, towards which the neighboring coun- 
try gradually slopes. Upon the edge of the lake 
are several elevations of volcanic character, and from 
an island in the center rises, to a height of one thou- 
sand feet, an active volcano, several eruptions of 
which have been recorded. Different theories have 



The Highlands of Benguet. 

These beautiful mountains boast scenery equal to 
that of the Tyrol, a climate temperate and bracing, 
rich mineral deposits, and vegetable products ranging 
from coffee to apples. 



TAAL LAKE AND VOLCANO. 23 

been advanced by scientific observers to account for 
the phenomenon of Lake Bombon. Father Zuniga 
expressed the opinion that the lake originated from 
the collapse of a volcanic cone. Doctor Becker at- 
tributes the present formation to the combined action 
of eruptions and cataclysms, and concludes that the 
peak "Taal itself is the small inner cone of a great 
crater of explosion.'^ Mr. H. D. Caskey, B. S., 
says : "My own notes and observations in these prov- 
inces tend to the belief that Taal was unquestionably, 
at a prehistoric period, very high and of tremendous 
activity; that it stood partly surrounded, if not 
wholly, by a stretch of the sea extending from the 
Gulf of Batangas to the Lingayen Gulf; that during 
its activity large quantities of volcanic ejecta fell into 
this island sea, forming the more or less stratified de- 
posits of tuif now furnishing much of the rich soil 
of the provinces of Batangas, La Laguna, Cavite, 
Rizal, and Bulacan ; that an explosion, or a series of 
them, blew out the entire upper cone, leaving the rim 
of the present boundaries of the Lake Taal ; and 
that subsequently minor cones were formed and this 
region was gradually raised to its present level." 
During historic times this volcano has undergone the 
most remarkable changes and new craters have been 
formed on three or four occasions. Of the several 
recorded eruptions of Taal, that of 1754 is the most 
notable. The following is from the account of Father 
Buenuchillo, the parish priest of Taal at the time : 



24 THE PHILIPPINES. 

THE STORY OF AN ERUPTION. 

''It began on May 13tli and did not end till the 1st 
of December. During this time the intensity and 
aspect of the eruption were constantly changing. It 
was two hundred davs of devastation and ruin for 
the inhabitants, to whom the time must have ap- 
peared an eternity. During this time the principal 
towns of the Laguna of Bombon disappeared, viz., 
Sala, Lipa, Tanuan, and Taal, with the numerous 
villages around them. Other towns of the same prov- 
ince at a distance, as well as towns of the neighbor- 
ing provinces of Balayan, Batangas, and Bauan, also 
suffered great damage. Rosario, Santo Tomas, and 
San Pablo also felt the effect of the rain of ashes 
and scorise, as also did almost all the provinces below 
the center of Luzon. The quantity of ashes and sco- 
rise which was sent up by the volcano was so great 
that a large quantity of pumice stone appeared on 
the surface of the Laguna; and several villages 
around Tanuan and others around Taal, being near 
the volcano, and because the wdnd w^as east, were 
totally destroyed by this rain." 

The eruption continued, with greater or less in- 
tensity, but continuously, till the 10th of July, when 
the nature of the volcanic rain changed, as may be 
gathered from the following words : 

''There was not a single night throughout the whole 
of this month of June till July 10th in which flames 



THE STORY OF AN ERUPTION. 25 

were wanting on the volcano, or in which there were 
not rumbling noises. This went on till July 10th, 
when it rained mud over the town of Taal, and the 
mud was of so black a character that ink would not 
have stained so blackly, and when the wind changed 
the mud covered a village called Balele, which is 
near Sala, which village was the most fertile of the 
whole district. The volcano continued to throw out, 
with more or less intensity, flames and black smoke 
during July and August and part of September, till, 
on the 25th of this last month, it appeared as if the 
volcano Avished to parade all its forces against us, 
because on that date, to the horrible rumblings and 
the tremendous flames, was joined a tempest which 
originated in the cloud of smoke. The lightnings 
which accompanied the storm continued without in- 
terruption till December 4th. It is truly marvelous 
that the cloud lasted for more than two months. Over 
and above this, there was from the same 25th of 
September till the morning of the 26tli such a copious 
rain of pumice stones that we were obliged to abandon 
our homes for fear the stones would break through 
the roof, as indeed happened in some houses. We 
were thus compelled to flee through this hail of stones, 
and some were w^ounded by the stones falling on their 
heads. During that one night the ground was cov- 
ered with scorise and ashes to the depth of a foot and 
a half, thus destroying and drying up the trees and 
plants as if a fire had passed over them. 



26 THE PHILIPPINES. 

"The activity of the volcano continued with short 
intervals of quiet during the months of October and 
^tsTovember. On the evening of the feast of All Saints 
the volcano again began to vomit forth fire, stones, 
sand, mnd, and ashes in a greater quantity than ever. 
This went on till November 15th, on which date, after 
vespers, there commenced a succession of rumblings 
so loud as to deafen one, and the volcano began to 
vomit forth smoke so dense and black as to darken 
the atmosphere, and at the same time such a quan- 
tity of large stones fell into the lake as to cause big 
waves ; the earth trembled, the houses shook, and yet 
this was but the preparation for a fresh rain of 
scoriae and ashes which lasted the whole of the after- 
noon and part of the night. 

"Notwithstanding the disaster that had overtaken 
us, I still remained in the said towm, together with 
the chief justice of the province, till on the night of 
the 27th (November) the volcano began once again to 
vomit such a quantity of flames that it seemed as if all 
that had been erupted during the preceding months to- 
gether did not equal that which was thrown forth 
during that hour. 

"Every moment the violence of the volcano in- 
creased so that the whole of the island (that is, the 
island in the lake) was covered with fire. This in- 
creasing volcanic activity, accompanied, as it was, 
by frightful subterranean rumblings and earthquakes, 



THE STORY OF AN ERUPTION. 27 

caused the unfortunate inhabitants to abandon their 
town and at any risk to gain tlie heights which rise 
between it and Santuario de Caysasay. 

'^Thus passed the 28th, but on the morning of the 
29 th smoke was observed rising in various points 
of the island from Calauit to the crater in a straight 
line, just as if a fissure had been opened all along 
the line. Between 4 and 6 o'clock of the same even- 
ing the horizon darkened, leaving us in complete 
darkness, and at the same time it began to rain mud, 
ashes, and sand, and although not in such quantities 
as before, yet it kept on without interruption the 
whole of that night and the morning of the 30th. 

^'The rain of mud ceased somewhat at 4 o'clock in 
the afternoon. It then measured a meter in depth 
in Santuario de Caysasay, which is distant about 
four leagues from the volcano. In some places near 
the island the depth of the mud, etc., reached more 
than three yards. The rain of ashes completely ceased 
on the 1st of December, and then a hurricane, which 
lasted two days, came to put the finishing touches to 
so many disasters by tearing up the little that had 
been left standing." 

The simple and pathetic narrative of this priest is 
one of several similar stories extant of the eruptions 
of this and other volcanoes; indeed this was by no 
means the only experience of the kind that Father 
Buenuchillo survived. 



28 THE PHILIPPINES. 

MAYON VOLCAXO. 

With the exception of Taal, Mayon, on the east 
coast of the province of Albay, is the most notable 
volcano for its activity in the Archipelago. It rises 
to a height of 7,916 feet in an almost perfect cone 
with a slightly truncated apex, from which it con- 
stantly emits smoke and steam. Doctor Becker says : 
''It is possibly the most symmetrically beautiful vol- 
canic cone in the world, and at times its crater is al- 
most infinitesimal, so that the meridional curve of 
the cone is continuous almost to the axis." Mayon 
has been in eruption on countless occasions since the 
discovery of the islands. Father Coronas records 
nearly thirty eruptions between the years 1616 and 
1897. Some of these were very serious in their con- 
sequences. In 1814 about twelve hundred lives were 
lost, and in many instances the towns at the base of 
the volcano have suffered severely. This has not de- 
terred the natives from repopulating the same spots. 
At the present time sites on the southern base of 
Mayon are occupied by Legaspi, Albay, and Daraga. 
At the time of the Spanish conquest one of the most 
numerous communities was settled in the vicinity of 
Taal, and the district has always been notably popu- 
lous. 

Earthquakes are frequent, and have often been 
very destructive, notably that of December, 1645, 
which laid Manila in ruins. One of the most re- 



RIVERS OF LUZON. 29 

markable seismic disturbances of record began in 
Xueva Yizcaya on the 3d day of January, 1881. 
During that month, May, July, August, and Septem- 
ber the shocks were ahnost incessant, some of the 
waves extending over the entire island of Luzon. 
Father Maso, the Assistant Director of the Philippine 
Weather Bureau, remarks, with the satisfaction of 
the scientist, that ' 'Manila is most advantageously 
situated for experiencing almost all the shocks radiat- 
ing from the different centers of Luzon." In a long 
course of years the average of seismic disturbances 
at Manila has been one a month. In the great ma- 
jority of instances they have been hardly noticeable 
shocks. Since the sixteenth century the capital has 
been visited by thirty-two violent earthquakes. The 
last destructive shock was in July, 1880, when the 
city w^as considerably damaged. 

The northern islands of the Archipelago are sub- 
ject to violent cyclones which do immense injury to 
standing crops and buildings. The destructive ef- 
fects of these natural visitations are decreasing as 
the people learn to adopt measures for minimizing 
them, and, as in our western States, I^ature compen- 
sates for occasional turbulence by her serenity and 
bounteousness at other times. 

EIVEKS OF LUZON. 

Luzon has three rivers which greatly surpass all 
others of the island in drainage basin, length, and 



30 THE PHILIPPINES. 

navigability ; these are the Cagayan, the Agno, and the 
Pampanga. 

The Cagayan, popularly called El Tajo (the in- 
cision), drains one-fourth of the entire island. Ris- 
ing in Caraballos Snr, at the southern boundary of 
Isabela Province, it follows a northward course to 
its mouth at Aparri, distant upwards of tw^o hundred 
miles from its source. It is navigable for native 
boats as far as one hundred and sixty miles from the 
sea, and rafts may travel to within twenty miles of 
its headwaters. Like most of the rivers of the Phil- 
ippines, it forms a bar at its mouth which is a serious 
obstruction to traffic. Vessels which are excluded by 
these impediments would often find beyond them 
ample water to carry them far up stream. The Ca- 
gayan carries the entire produce, consisting largely 
of tobacco, of the provinces of Isabela and Cagayan 
to the port of Aparri. This very extensive and im- 
portant traffic is fed by the contributions of the 
two principal tributaries of the river, which are 
navigable, one for twenty miles and the other for 
forty miles from the points of juncture. 

The Agno rises in the mountains of Benguet Prov- 
ince. It flows through the northern portion of the 
great central valley of Luzon and reaches the Gulf of 
Lingayen through several mouths at important com- 
mercial points, carrying a considerable burden of 
produce. 

The Pampanga, which is second in size to the 



RIVERS OF LUZON. 31 

Cagayan, has its source in the same mountain range 
as the latter, and pursuing an opposite course, along 
which it is joined by many branches, discharges 
into Manila Bay through several channels, forming an 
extensive delta. 

The Pasig runs from Laguna de Bay to the Bay of 
Manila, a distance of about eighteen miles. The city 
of Manila is situated at the mouth of the river. The 
Pasig has a considerable depth and width, and is at 
all times navigable by the cascos, large native cargo 
boats which carry on enormous traffic between the 
city and the lake. 

Hitherto the rivers of the Archipelago have been 
the principal inland channels of trade, owing to the 
almost total absence of railroad and the impassa- 
bility of most highways during the rains. Whilst 
these waterways will always afford convenient and 
economical means for the movement of native pro- 
duce, with the development of the islands and the 
completion of projected transportation facilities much 
of the traffic must be diverted to the railway ; indeed, 
the path of the locomotive will necessarily conform 
to the general direction of the principal rivers. 

There is hardly a province of Luzon but has a 
wealth of resources of varied descriptions ; many, per- 
haps most, of them quite undeveloped. One may 
hazard the prediction that under a liberal policy of 
government and with the aid of American capital 
and enterprise, this island is destined to become one of 



32 THE PHILIPPINES 

the most productive and prosperous regions of its 
size in the world. 

At present we will take only a cursory view of the 
several provinces, with special regard to their eco- 
nomic condition and possibilities, leaving more par- 
ticular consideration of the principal resources and 
industries for another portion of the volume. 

CAGAYAN" AND IS ABEL A. 

These provinces are the main field of tobacco cul- 
tivation. The entire district is extremely fertile. 
Hon. William H. Taft, writing in 1901, said: 'The 
enormous capacity for development of this valley, 
w^hich includes the provinces of Cagayan and Isa- 
bela, can hardly be exaggerated. It is a common 
thing for the natives to use their land seven or eight 
months in the year for tobacco and then to derive 
two successful crops of corn in the four or -^ve re- 
maining months of the year. There are some very 
large haciendas owned by tobacco companies, but 
after Spain ceased to conduct her monopoly of the 
tobacco business, she divided up much of the tobacco 
land among the tenants, and there are now in both 
provinces a great number of small holders working 
their own land, and the great business of the valley 
is tobacco buying. '^ 

The district is traversed by a wagon road, with an 
extensive system of branches connecting the most 
important towns in the provinces. This highway is 



ILOCOS NORTE. 33 

an integral portion of the trunk road which extends 
from Aparri to Manila, taking a route which will be 
followed by one of the proposed new railroads. Al- 
most all the main roads of the island are paralleled 
by telegraph lines. 

ABRA, LEPANTO-BONTOC^ AND NUEVA VIZCAYA. 

These provincial divisions comprise a region which 
is in a somewhat backward condition, due largely to 
physical conditions unfavorable to the successful pur- 
suit of agriculture. Despite the extremely rugged 
character of its surface, Abra has a considerable 
area of rich alluvial soil in the valleys which yields 
its scant population bountiful returns for their tillage. 
The province is enclosed on every side by a barrier 
of impassable mountains, and the only outlet is along 
the bed of the river. The other two provinces in 
this group are even less promising from an agricul- 
tural outlook, but they may in the future achieve a 
considerable degree of prosperity by reason of their 
mineral resources. Lepanto-Bontoc is extremely rich 
in copper of a high grade. At one time the mines of 
Mancayan produced about five hundred tons of metal 
annually. 

ILOCOS N-ORTE, ILOCOS SUR AND LA UNION. 

A- narrow strip along the northern portion of the 
west coast encloses the above named provinces. It is 
a fertile region, in which extensive crops are raised. 



34 THE PHILIPPINES. 

including wheat and other products of the temperate 
zone. The inhabitants are amongst the most pro- 
gressive and industrious in the Philippines. AMiilst 
the men are engaged in agriculture, fishing, and rais- 
ing live stock, which is one of the chief industries 
of the section, the women are occupied in spinning and 
weaving various fabrics that find an export market. 

There is a highway commencing in the extreme 
north and following the coast through the entire 
length of these provinces. It forms a connection 
with the Manila-Dagupan Raihvay and is the pro- 
posed route of the extension of that line to Laoag, 
the capital of Ilocos ^orte. 

The progress of this, one of the most productive 
districts of Luzon, was prevented by internecine war- 
fare until the Spaniards brought it under subjection 
in the first half of the nineteenth centurs^ In the 
past fifty years its population has increased several 
fold. 

BENGUET. 

Benguet is to the Americans in Manila what 
*^the hills'' are to the English in India. The 
entire area has an exceptional altitude which gives 
it a climate similar to that of the northern part of 
the Temperate Zone. The maximum temperature is 
76° 2' F. and the minimum 46^ 4' F., giving a mean 
of 62° 6' F. The scenery is beautiful and the water 
excellent and abundant. The qualifications of the dis- 



PANGASINAN. 35 

trict for a health resort were long since appreciated 
by the Commission, and it was determined to establish 
a sanatariiim at Baguio. An extension of the railroad 
from Dagupan will afford ready access to the place. 

The crops of the Temperate Zone are successfully 
cultivated here, and it is believed that the physical 
conditions are especially favorable to the growth of 
tea and coffee. 

The province is rich in minerals. Copper mines 
have been profitably worked by natives at Baguio, 
Tavas, and Sudab. Gold, iron, and coal are also 
found in different localites. 

Oak, narra, molave, and other valuable trees are 
numerous, besides extensive areas of pine. 

PANGASINAN. 

This is a well-watered province capable of great 
development in several directions. The chief prod- 
ucts are rice, sugar and wine. The building of boats 
is an important industry, for which the favorable 
coast and abundance of suitable wood afford excep- 
tional facilities. Superior physical conditions exist 
for the cultivation of indigo, chocolate, and coffee, but 
little attention is paid to these profitable products 
at present. The Chinese enjoy a practical monopoly 
of the trade of this province. The Chinese element 
has been prominent in Pangasinan, Pampanga and 
Bulacan for two hundred years. 

Pangasinan is rich in minerals. Its name is de- 



36 THE PHILIPPINES 

rived from the extensive salt deposits. The Igorrotes 
of the mountains extract gold and copper by their 
crude methods. Rich lodes of iron and magnetite in 
a pure state are known to exist. 

The only railroad at present operating in the 
islands has one of its termini at Dagiipan on the 
Gulf of Lingayen. The road runs through the prov- 
ince of Pangasinan and continues nearly due south 
to its terminal at Manila, the total length being about 
125 miles. 

ZAMBALES. 

A somewhat backward race with turbulent tenden- 
cies inhabits Zambales. Although the industrial con- 
dition of the province is not promising, it offers great 
opportunities for development under more favorable 
circumstances. The soil is capable of yielding the 
most desirable crops of the Archipelago. Copper and 
coal mines are in operation at Agno and near San 
Isidro. There are indications of iron in the moun- 
tains of the north and in those of the south. The 
forests are unusually rich in valuable woods and 
gums. Amber is found in large quantities along the 
coast. This is a commodity which, owing to increas- 
ing scarcity, is constantly enhancing in value. 

The development of this promising province was 
for a long time retarded by the periodical inroads 
of the Moro pirates. During the last century emi- 
gration has combined with immunity from disturb- 



PAMPANGA. 37 

ance to produce a multiplication of more than six- 
teen in the population. 

BATAAN. 

The province is a peninsula forming the eastern 
boundary of Manila Bay. It is almost entirely cov- 
ered by mountains. The chief product is rice. Build- 
ing-wood and ships' timbers are exported to Manila. 
There are quarries of valuable marbles in the moun- 
tains and probably rich mineral deposits. 

TAELAC. 

Tarlac has good road and river communication be- 
tween its own towns and those of the neighboring 
provinces. Rice and sugar-cane are the principal 
products. There are no mechanical industries with 
the object of trade. The forests should be a source 
of great future wealth to the province. They contain 
large stands of the most valuable trees, including 
narra, ipil, and molave, and the facilities for lum- 
bering are exceptionally good. The province offers 
no opportunities for mining, and in this respect it 
resembles its neighbor, Pampanga. 

PAMPANGA. 

Pampanga province is in a highly prosperous con- 
dition OAving to the industry of its people, the fer- 
tility of its soil, and the extent of its transportation 
facilities. It has good road and river communica- 



38 THE PHILIPPINES. 

tion and, which is of the greatest importance, it is 
intersected by the raih'oad. 

The delta of the Pampanga River affords a rich 
area for the cultivation of rice, with the necessary 
facilities for irrigation. Rice is the main crop, and 
it is exported in great quantities. 

The forests are disappearing as tillage extends, 
and the grazing grounds, which formerly afforded 
occupation to a considerable proportion of the popu- 
lation, are giving out. On the other hand, the fish- 
eries and mechanical industries show a marked de- 
velopment in recent years. There are several hun- 
dred stone mills in the province and more than six 
hundred sugar factories, about one-third of them be- 
ing worked by steam and hydraulic power. 

NUEVA ECIJA. 

Nueva Ecija is, thanks to the great productiveness 
of its soil, a highly prosperous province. Seventy- 
five miles of the Pampanga run within its boundaries, 
wdiich also embrace more than forty distinct tribu- 
taries of that river. The Pampanga and its branches 
support a great trafiic in the products of this district. 
There is a network of good roads in the province. 
The soil is to a considerable extent alluvial and every- 
where fertile. It is capable of producing any of the 
staple crops of the island. In the centre of the prov- 
ince is an extensive depression, subject to inundation. 
This makes the best possible paddy-land, and is de- 



BULACAN. 39 

voted chiefly to the raising of rice, which constitutes 
the principal product of the district. Of this grain 
over 30,000,000 of quarts are exported annually. 
Corn is raised in large quantities, and the cultivation 
of tobacco and sugar receives considerable attention. 
The central portion of the province contains excellent 
pasture where the greater part of the cattle for the 
Manila market is fed. 

BUI.ACA:t3'. 

Bulacan embraces the greater part of the delta of 
the Pampanga. It is a highly productive and densely 
populated district. The entire province, which, with 
the exception of a small portion on the east, is flat 
and well-watered, produces rich crops under the care- 
ful cultivation of the Tagalog inhabitants. 

Coal, iron, and copper exist in abundance and 
amongst other minerals, gold and silver are found. 
The mountains are covered with trees of commercial 
value, including some of the species most prized by 
the cabinet-maker. 

The great vegetable and mineral wealth of Bula- 
can is supplemented by ample transportation facili- 
ties. It has communication with Manila by road, 
rail, and steamer. Most of the rivers are navigable 
by the native cargo boats, and good wagon roads con- 
nect it with the adjacent provinces. 

Bulacan has an extensive industry in the manufac- 
ture of fabrics. Its plna cloth has a world-wide 



40 THE PHILIPPINES. 

reputation. The fibre from which it is produced is 
extracted from the leaf of the pineapple. It is woven 
into a very beautiful silk-like textile which commands 
a high price in the Philippines and is finding favor 
in Europe. 

Bulacan and Pampanga have been prosperous prov- 
inces since early times. Father Zuniga, one hundred 
years ago, foimd their rivers laden with the produce 
of the countryside which reached Manila by way of 
the bay. 

A consolidation of the former province of Manila, 
excluding the capital city, and the district of Morong, 
has formed the new province of Rizal. The princi- 
pal products of the land are rice, sugar-cane, com, 
and tobacco. The chief industries are the manufac- 
ture of lime, rush mats, and native clothing, and 
sugar-making, and quarrying. The proAance has, of 
course, exceptional facilities for the distribution of 
its output. 

LAGUNA. 

The province extends along the east and south 
shores of Laguna de Bay, from which it derives its 
name. It has an extensive river system which thor- 
oughly irrigates the whole of its area. The highways 
of the province are good and it has convenient and 
economical communication with Manila from vari- 
ous points on the lake via the Pasig River. 



CAVITE. 41 

Laguna is a populous and prosperous province. Its 
soil and climate favor the growth of all the tropical 
plants of the Archipelago. An exceptionally large 
proportion — probably as much as one-fourth — of its 
land area is under cultivation. The staple products 
are sugar-cane, rice, corn, cotton, cocoanuts, tobacco, 
indigo, and various vegetables. Fruits in great variety 
and quantity are raised and their shipment to Manila 
constitutes an important element of the trade of La- 
guna. The raising of live-stock is also an industry of 
consequence. There are several hundred factories en- 
gaged in the extraction of oil and the distillation of 
wine from the cocoanut. Amongst other industries, 
the manufacture of holos and of furniture deserve 
mention. 

Laguna has no considerable endowment of mineral 
or forest resources, but its busy population will al- 
ways find ample scope for their industry in agricul- 
tural pursuits. 

CAVITE. 

Cavite gains a great deal of importance from the 
fact that its capital, the town of the same name, is 
the naval headquarters of the Philippines. The inlet 
upon which it stands affords the best anchorage in 
the Bay of Manila and is the refuge of ships during 
severe storms. 

The province has a frontage of thirty miles along 
the bay. The inhabitants of the littoral are engaged 



42 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in the extensive cultivation of rice, in fisheries, and 
in the manufacture of salt. The output of all these 
industries is exported to Manila. Rice and sugar 
are extensively grown in the interior, where pastoral 
pursuits also engage a large number of the people. 

BATAN^GAS. 

Batangas has three or four excellent harbors and 
a good system of roads, many of which, hoAvever, are, 
owing to the preponderance of clay in the soil, im- 
passable for wagons in the rainy season. The prov- 
ince contains more towns of a considerable population 
than any other province in the islands. This district 
is one of the most fertile and well-developed in 
Luzon. The output of coffee and sugar is very large. 
Rice, hemp, chocolate, and other products of agricul- 
ture help to swell an important export trade. Live 
stock is also raised extensively, the Batangas breed 
of horses being widely celebrated. At various points 
in the province are mineral springs whose waters 
have remarkable curative properties and are found 
to be efficacious in a great variety of diseases. 

Abundance of commercial timber stands in the 
mountainous districts, and the facilities for market- 
ing it are unusually good. This is but one of several 
fields which Batangas offers for the profitable invest- 
ment of capital. 

The population — almost entirely Tagalog — is civ- 
ilized, progressive, and industrious. Every hut con- 



TAYABAS. 43 

tains one or two looms, from which the women turn 
off a variety of fabrics of the finest texture and the 
"brightest hues. 

TAYABAS. 

By act of the Philippine Commission, 1902, the 
long and narrow strip along the east coast compos- 
ing the districts of Principe and Infanta, and in- 
cluding the island of Polillo, was annexed to, and 
incorporated ^vith, the province of Tayabas. The 
attached region is in great part mountainous wilder- 
ness, extensive portions, particularly in Principe, be- 
ing impenetrable. Its meagre population — averag- 
ing about one to the square mile — consisting of wild 
or semi-civilized tribes, subsist mainly by fishing and 
hunting. In the vicinity of the five or six small 
towns agriculture of a primitive sort occupies a few 
of the inhabitants. The people of this region have 
made no increase in numbers and hardly any progress 
toward civilization in the centuries which have 
elapsed since the Spaniards first landed upon Luzon. 
The earliest accounts of this Pacific coast and its 
inhabitants might almost serve for a description of 
to-day. Coal is found in the Island of Polillo, but 
owning to the difiiculties of transportation it is not 
mined. The forests abound in a varietv of timber 
of economic value, and there is good ground for the 
belief that the mountains are rich in mineral deposits, 
but the difficulty of marketing any products will 



44 THE PHILIPPINES. 

prove a hindrance to the development of the district 
for many years to come. 

Tayabas proper has a very mountainous surface. 
Its coast-line affords good anchorage at several points, 
and the province is in water communication with all 
the ports of the x\rchipelago. 

Tayabas is traversed by the great highway and 
telegraph line wdiich, commencing at Sorsogon in 
the southeast of Luzon, passes through the provincial 
capitals, Albay, E^ueva Caceres, Lucena, Santa Cruz, 
and so to Manila. 

N^otwithstanding the rugged character of its area, 
Tayabas affords its inhabitants ample opportunity 
for the pursuit of agriculture. The mountain ranges 
slope to the coast in well-watered terraces, whose fer- 
tile soil yields large crops of rice, sugar cane, and 
coffee. Lumbang is a specialty of the district. It 
is a seed from which a peculiarly oleaginous sub- 
stance is obtained. 

The forests contain a great variety of useful hard- 
woods as well as Avax, gums, and resinous substances, 
in w4iich there is an important export trade to foreign 
countries. 

Indications of coal have been marked in various 
parts of the province. The island of Alabat, off the 
north coast, contains veins of excellent coal in the 
vicinity of Sanguinin on its northwest side. The 
facilities for shipping should make mining at this 
spot an attractive proposition. 



AMBOS CAMARINES. 45 

The people manufacture a great variety of useful 
articles for export and several kinds of native 
fabrics. The towns along the shore of Tayabas Bay 
have boat-building yards from which cascos, paraos, 
and other kinds of native craft are turned out. 

AMBOS CAMAEIlSrES. 

Ambos Camarines has several fine roads connecting 
the principal towns and marts of commerce. The pro- 
jected new railroad system of the Philippines in- 
cludes a line to run from Nueva Caceres, the capital 
of the province, to the towm of Albay, with a branch 
from each point to the coast. Within a radius of 
ten miles from the capital are eleven towns of im- 
portance, between which communication is main- 
tained by means of excellent highways. The Bicol 
River, by reason of its superior navigability, is one 
of the most important inland waterways of Luzon. 
Steamers drawing eleven feet may go up to ^ueva 
Caceres, twenty-five miles from the ocean. Steam 
vessels of the lightest draft may go as far as the 
head of Lake Bato, seventy miles from the mouth, 
whilst, at certain seasons, native boats can penetrate 
to Polangui, in the province of Albay. 

Ambos Camarines contains extensive areas of fer- 
tle land, from which are produced an excellent quality 
of rice, chocolate superior to that of the Moluccas, 
and sugar cane. The peninsula south of and includ- 
ing; this province is one of the principal hemp dis- 



46 THE PHILIPPINES. 

tricts of the Archipelago. Large quantities of the 
fibre are exported from Ambos Camarines, whilst a 
considerable amount is consumed by the local looms, 
which convert it into sinamay and guimaras. 

A variety of mechanical industries afford employ- 
ment to a large proportion of the inhabitants. There 
are numerous sugar mills, hemp presses, refineries, 
and distilleries, besides the factories of metal workers 
and tool makers. 

The forests are particularly rich in woods of great 
utility, and the by-products, such as resin, pitch, and 
wax, are numerous and abundant. 

Ambos Camarines is regarded as one of the most 
important auriferous regions in the Philippines. 
Gold, silver, iron, lead, and copper are worked on 
the north coast. Mr. Drasche, a well-known German 
geologist, has reported rich quartz veins at Mambulao, 
which, at the time of his inspection, in 1875, were 
being worked by seven hundred natives. At Para- 
cale there are parallel quartz veins in granite, one 
twenty feet in width, the ore from which assays thirty- 
eight ounces to the ton. Quicksilver is found at Isa- 
rog and coal near Caramuan. In the vicinity of 
Daet, on the northern coast, are several gold mines. 
Near Sogod is an extensive layer of coal similar to 
the Australian product. In the southern part of the 
province there are mines of pit coal and quarries of 
marble and gypsum. 



ALBAY. 47 

The continuation of the peninsula to the south 
forms the province of Albay. In general the dis- 
trict is rugged and volcanic. Xear its east coast 
Majon rises in solitary beauty from an extensive 
plain. Albay has numerous waterways and good 
roads forming connections between all the important 
towns and villages. Legaspi and Tabaco are ports of 
entry from which the immense hemp output of the 
province is shipped to Manila. An idea of the ex- 
tent of this trade may be conveyed by the statement 
that at Legaspi alone $1,000,000 changes hands every 
thirty days. The surface of Albay is admirably 
adapted to the cultivation of hemp, or abaca, as it is 
called in the islands. The plant thrives on mountain- 
ous slopes where it may get plenty of moisture with 
good drainage, ample shade, and a fertile soil. Albay 
contributes about one-fourth of the total hemp export 
of the Philippines, the value of Avhich in the last 
twelve years has averaged upwards of $18,000,000. 
In addition, a considerable quantity of the product 
is devoted to home consumption in the manufacture 
of fabrics, cordage, etc. 

PEOSPEKITY OF ALBAY. 

The production of oil from the cocoanut is an im- 
portant industry. 

As an index to the prosperity of Albay and the 
two contiguous provinces it may be stated that their 
population has increased more than seventeenfold in 



48 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the past two liimdred and fifty years. The hemp 
trade has been a predominating factor in this increase. 

ISTative boats, inchiding sails, rigging, etc., are 
made in the coast towns. A great number of the craft 
are engaged in the coastwise trade, carrying hemp 
from the numerous villages along the shore to the sea- 
ports, where it is baled and shipped. 

Coal mining is carried on to a considerable extent, 
and there are indications of gold, silver, and iron in 
commercial quantities amongst the summits of the 
eastern coast-range. 

The forests contain great stands of valuable trees, 
but they may be only sparingly felled, since extensive 
shade is essential to the successful cultivation of the 
hemp plant. 

SOESOGON. 

Sorsogon, the southernmost district of Luzon, is 
particularly favored in the matter of good harbors. 
That in which the port of Sorsogon stands is one 
of the best in the Archipelago. The shores of this 
gulf are w^ell cultivated and populous, and a large 
traffic is carried on by water between its towns. 

The population of the province is largely engaged 
in the hemp industry, and in the production of copra, 
the dried meat of the cocoanut, from which the oil is 
expressed. Both of these commodities are shipped in 
great quantities. 

The presence of abandoned mines of gold, silver. 



RAILROAD EXTENSION. 49 

iron, and coal, indicate extensive workings in former 
times, and it is believed that the operations might 
be resumed with profit. 

EAILKOAD EXTEIi^SIOlSr. 

The commercial development of the Archipelago 
and the general welfare of its people will be greatly 
advanced by the extensive railroad system, for the 
construction and operation of which contracts were 
made by the Philippine Commission in 1905. The 
immediate effect will be to double, and treble, the 
commerce of certain sections where almost limitless 
products need only transportation facilities to find 
ready markets. 

In Luzon it is proposed to extend the Manila-Dagu- 
pan line northward along the coast to Laoag. A 
branch will run from San Fabian, near Dagupan, 
to Baguio, the capital of Benguet province, and the 
site of the government sanatarium. Southward from 
Manila the line will be prolonged to the town of Ba- 
tangas. This extension will skirt the west shore of 
Laguna de Bay, and a branch will continue round 
the southern end of the lake to Santa Cruz. Another 
branch will connect Lipa, Batangas province, with 
Lucena, on Tayabas Bay. 

The portion of the system destined to traverse the 
hemp belt of the southeastern peninsula has already 
been mentioned. 



50 THE PHILIPPINES. 

MARINDUQUE. 

Marinduque, although less than seven hundred 
square miles in extent, is an island of considerable 
commercial importance. It is almost circular in 
shape and has the prevailing mountainous character- 
istics. The greater part of its population of about 
60,000 Tagalogs is found in the to^^Tis, of which Boac, 
the capital, is the largest and most important in every 
respect. The island has a large export trade^ es- 
pecially in rice, copra, and hemp. Marinduque has 
excellent facilities for stock raising, and that indus- 
try is pursued to a moderate extent. The island is 
distant only ten miles from the mainland of Luzon. 

THE ISEAK^D OF MINDOEO. 

Mindoro lies immediately south of the province of 
Batangas. It is one hundred miles long by sixty at 
its broadest part, and has an area of about 3,500 
square miles. Its mountain range nuis through the 
middle of the island and traverses its entire length. 
In Mt. Ilalcon the range attains an elevation of 8,800 
feet. The island is, for the most part, covered with 
forests of useful trees. The valleys, copiously watered 
by exceptionally great rainfall and numerous streams, 
contain extensive stretches of the best kind of graz- 
ing land. The central portion of the island is a large 
plain of this description. There are a few civilized 
settlements on the coast, but the inland districts are 



MASBATE. 51 

inhabited by the wild tribe of Manguianes, or 
"savage mountaineers/' 

Mindoro has extensive stretches of highly fertile 
coast land that are unoccupied save for a little ham- 
let here and there. This is due to the fact that dur- 
ing many generations the island was ravaged by the 
Moro pirates, who at the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century had almost depopulated it. 

THE VISAYAN GEOUP MASBATE. 

Masbate, with its dependent islands, form the north- 
ernmost province of the Visayas. The island occupies 
a position in the latitudinal center of the Archipelago, 
and about eighty miles east of the axis of longitude. 
The surface of Masbate is very broken and moun- 
tainous, but in tha w^est and southeast portions there 
are extensive and well-watered grazing grounds. 
There are several good harbors and a number of 
streams of considerable size. 

The staple products are cotton, chocolate, sugar- 
cane and hemp. The island has long been famous 
for its herds of cattle and for its horses and hogs. 
The grazing industry has increased largely since 
the American occupation, but Masbate, like almost 
every other island of the Archipelago, suffered se- 
verely from the recent visitation of rinderpest, for- 
mally the island will ship in the course of a year from 
twelve to fifteen thousand head of cattle to Manila, be- 
sides supplying other parts of Luzon and Negros with 



52 THE PHILIPPINES. 

numeroiTS carahao. An important industry is the 
manufacture of sugar sacks and palm mats for export. 
Numbers of the inhabitants are engaged in collecting 
the by-products of the forests, in fishing, hunting, and 
weaving. A fine quality of lignite is found upon 
the island, and gold is washed from the sands of the 
rivers. 

SAMAR. 

Samar, the chief of the Visayan Group, is the third 
in size of the islands of the Archipelago, having an 
area of 5,000 square miles. It lies about ten miles 
off Sorsogon, from which it is separated by the Strait 
of San Bernardino. The island has a very irregular 
surface, but there are no great elevations. The coast 
line is extremely broken and is fringed with islets and 
reefs, making approach difiicult, especially upon the 
eastern side. Samar has several rivers of considerable 
length, but they are all very shallow and beset with 
rocky obstructions, so that navigation is limited to 
native boats. In connection with the present railway 
improvements, a line will be constructed to cross the 
island from Paranas, about midway of the west 
coast, to San Julian, almost directly opposite, upon 
the east coast. Physical and climatic conditions in 
Samar are favorable to the production of all the 
staple crops of the Archipelago. The output of hemp, 
sugar, rice, and copra is very large. The island is 
said to be rich in coal and other minerals, but the 



BOHOL. 53 

hostility of the natives in the interior has hitherto 
been a bar to satisfactory exploration. 

LEYTE. 

Leyte belongs to the Visayas and is situated to the 
southwest of Samar, from which it is separated by 
less than half a mile of water. Its length is one hun- 
dred and twenty miles and its utmost breadth fifty 
miles. The greater part of the island is broken up 
by groups of mountains and volcanic cones. One 
continuous range of hills traverses its entire length. 
Leyte has several fine bays and harbors, and three or 
four rivers of commercial consequence, including the 
Binahaan, which permits of cascos going up to Da- 
gami, an important town, fifteen miles from the coast. 

The railroad is planned to extend from Tacloban, 
on the northeast coast, to Casigara, upon the bay of 
that name ; in a southerly direction the line will run 
from Tacloban to the town of Abuyog. 

The population of about 300,000 consists of Visay- 
ans almost exclusively, and their language is the cur- 
rent dialect. Leyte is one of the most highly culti- 
vated of the Philippine Islands. The chief product 
is hemp, of which the quality is excellent. Sugar 
and live stock are important exports from the island. 

BOHOL. 

Bohol, of the Visayas, lies between Leyte and Cebu. 
It has a length from east to west of about sixty miles 



64 THE PHILIPPINES. 

and a breadth of about forty miles. Xowhere are 
there any great elevations. The southern half of the 
island is hilly, but in the north the land is level, or 
undulating, seldom reaching a height of one thousand 
feet. The outline of Bohol is unusually simple, 
but the northern and eastern coasts are rendered diffi- 
cult of approach by reefs. The island is without a 
harbor of consequence. There are four or five rivers 
in Bohol that are navigable by large native cargo 
boats. The population is notable for its industry. 
The soil is not particularly favorable to agriculture, 
but a large quantity of vegetable produce is raised 
by careful tillage. The chief mechanical industries 
are the weaving of textiles from cotton and pineapple 
fibre. 

CEBU. 

Cebu occupies a central position amongst the south- 
ern members of the Visayan Islands. It is a narrow 
strip of land, one hundred and forty miles in length, 
lying between Bohol and JSTegros. The Cordillera 
Central range of mountains runs the entire length 
of the island and bisects it in almost equal parts. 
Whilst this range nowhere attains an altitude much 
in excess of two thousand feet, it is difficult of passage 
and forms a serious obstacle to communication be- 
tween the coasts. Its entire length only affords about 
half a dozen easy cross routes. 

Cebu has no navigable rivers. Its appropriation 



A Vtv^wax Family. 

This is the family of an educated and wealthy 
Visayo. The type differs very little from the Tagal 
of the same class. The picture affords excellent illus- 
trations of the native costume. 

From Stereojjraph Copyriorht. hv Underwood & Underwood. Xcw VaiW. 



NEGROS. 55 

in the new railroad system contemplates a line run- 
ning north from the city of Cebu to Danao on the 
east coast, and south from Cebu to Argao on the 
same coast. In addition there may be constructed a 
line across the island from Carcar, or Sibonga, to 
the west coast, and thence along the coast betweea 
Dumanjug and Barili. 

The province, which embraces a few small adjacent 
islands, is the most populous in the Archipelago, 
having 600,000 inhabitants: that is, 337 to the square 
mile, a density unapproached by any other of the 
Philippine Islands, which have an average of sixty- 
seven to the square mile. The city and port of 
Cebu has an excellent harbor. It is, next to Manila 
and Iloilo, the largest municipality in the islands. 
Cebu exports hemp, sugar, and copra in large quanti- 
ties and raises a great deal of rice, mainly for local 
consumption. The principal manufactures are sugar, 
salt, pottery, sacks, and various fibre fabrics. 

NEGEOS. 

Negros, one of the Visayas, is situated between 
Cebu and Panay. It is nearly as large as Samar 
and in form somewhat resembles Leyte. A con- 
tinuous mountain range, embracing several peaks 
exceeding six thousand feet in height, traverses the 
island from end to end. Negros is almost entirely 
encircled by a broad belt of coast land, which is par- 
ticularly well adapted to sugar raising. This is the 



56 THE PHILIPPINES. 

principal seat of that industry in the Philippines. It 
has been carried on here for forty years. Steam and 
hydraulic machinery is used in the process of extrac- 
tion. The fisheries are an important element in the 
industries of the island. 

I^egros is deficient of good harbors, and most of its 
rivers are navigable only by lorclias, but the Pasig 
and Danao admit vessels drawing ten feet of water 
to a distance of ten miles from their mouths. The 
railroad will run from the harbor of Escalante, on 
the northeast coast, westerly, following the coast line 
to Himamailan. 

PANAY. 

Panay, the westernmost island of the Visayan 
group, has the shape of a rough isosceles triangle 
with its apex pointing in a southwesterly direction. 
Its equilateral lengths are one hundred miles and its 
base seventy-five miles. In area it is not far short 
of ^N^egros and Samar. A range of mountains runs 
along the entire w^est coast and, from a point about 
midway, throws out a spur w^hich traverses the island, 
terminating in the northeast corner. The eastern 
half of Panay contains large reaches of level and fer- 
tile land, intersected by numerous streams. None of 
the rivers of the island will accommodate any but 
the lightest craft. There are, however, many fine 
roads running coastwise between important trade cen- 
ters, but, owing to the difficulty of crossing the moun- 



PANAY. 57 

tains in the interior, communication between the 
provinces is carried on solely by sea. Panay is one 
of the most populous of all the islands, its inhabitants 
numbering in the neighborhood of 800,000. It has 
several large towns and three important cities, 
namely, Antique, Capiz and Iloilo. The last ranks 
next to Manila amongst the commercial centers of the 
Philippines. It has a good harbor, and vessels draw- 
ing fifteen feet of water may safely approach the city 
at all seasons. The staple products are sugar-cane, 
rice, and copra. In 1892 the shipments of sugar 
from this island aggregated the enormous amount of 
354,934,482 pounds. In recent years the production 
has fallen off more than fifty per cent., owing mainly 
to a decreased foreign demand. 

A large portion of Panay is exceptionally fine 
grass-land, on which live stock, chiefly carabao, is 
raised in large numbers. The horses of Iloilo 
are famed throughout the islands and are in constant 
demand. 

The mechanical industries are important. The ex- 
ports include the best quality of pina cloth, silk, cot- 
ton, hemp and other fabrics. The province of An- 
tique in particular is celebrated for the quality and 
quantity of its textile manufactures, which give em- 
ployment at the looms to upwards of twelve thousand 
women. Panay was noted for its beautiful homespun 
fabrics one hundred years and more ago. 

The projected railway will consist of a line running 



58 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in a northeasterly direction from Iloilo and forking to 
the towns of Capiz and Bataan. 

The island has exceptionally great mineral re- 
sources, but they have not been scientifically worked. 
Deposits of quicksilver, gold, iron, and copper, are 
known to exist. There are indications of coal in sev- 
eral localities. Fine marbles, and a beautiful variety 
of tonalite, are quarried. Veins of gypsum and marl 
have been located, and petroleum and natural gas are 
reported. 

PAKAGUA. 

Paragua, or Palawan, stretches 275 miles north- 
west and southwest with a maximum width of twenty- 
five miles. It is inhabited almost entirely by wild 
tribes. It has no trade of consequence and hardly a 
town worthy of the name. The industries consist 
mainly of stock-raising and weaving of cloth for local 
use. The island contains a fair proportion of fertile 
land and some good grazing grounds. The forests 
abound in very valuable woods, and the physical con- 
ditions would be favorable to lumber operations by 
improved methods. 

MINDANAO. 

Mindanao approximates to Luzon in size, but with 
a greatly differing shape. The surface formation of 
the island is very irregular and diversified. A range 
of mountains skirts the whole of the east coast. Min- 



MINDANAO. 59 

danao, like Luzon, contains two large valleys. That 
of the Agusan lies to the west of the eastern mountain 
range, from which the great Agusan river receives 
its supplies as it flows northward over a course of 240 
miles to its mouth in Butuan Bay. Vessels with a 
six-foot draft may navigate the Agusan to a distance 
of tw^enty miles from its outlet, and light native 
craft go much farther. The river has several strong 
tributaries, some of which are of great utility to 
the natives as channels of traffic. The Agusan in 
its upper course drains Lake Lanao, the surface of 
which is 2,200 feet above sea level. On the south 
its shore rises abruptly to a plateau nearly one thou- 
sand feet above the lake. Several detached extinct 
volcanoes rise to heights varying from one to two thou- 
sand feet above the plateau. The lake is almost sur- 
rounded by mountains. The valley of the Agusan has 
a breadth of from forty to fifty miles, and is bounded 
on the west by a succession of ranges traversing the 
entire length of the island through its center and 
dividing its two great plains. These ranges are fre- 
quently broken, presenting many low and easy passes. 

The Rio Grande de Mindanao is the first river in 
length of the Archipelago. It rises in the northern 
part of the island, and after passing through the 
valley, to which it gives its name, discharges into the 
Bay of Illana, distant three hundred miles from its 
headwaters. It is navigable for small steamers as 
far as Lake Liguasan, a distance of about thirty 



60 THE ^PHILIPPINES. 

miles, and for boats drawing three and a half feet 
of water for fifteen miles higher. By blasting the 
rocks with which its bed is beset, a much more exten- 
sive channel would be freed to commerce. With the 
development of the island such an undertaking may 
prove of economic advantage, for the course of 
the stream is through a region rich in forest products, 
including rubber and gutta percha. 

The coast of Mindanao is not intricately indented 
like those of most of the Philippine Islands. Al- 
though it has several large bays, penetrating far 
inland, there are few good harbors. 

A range of mountains hugs the southern shores of 
the Zamboanga peninsula, and is continued in de- 
tached spurs along the coast to the Gulf of Davao. 
About thirty miles to the west of the port of Davao 
stands Apo volcano, the highest peak in the Archi-. 
pelago. Its summit rises 10,311 feet above the level 
of the sea. ^'Looking at the volcano from Davao, 
or Samal, on a cloudless morning, there may be seen 
distinctly a wide space with small cones of sulphur, 
from which burst forth intermittent eruptions of 
white sulphurous vapors. This is a magnificent spec- 
tacle when, at sunrise, the sulphur mantle and cones 
are shining, and there then appears a sudden jet of 
vapors sometimes growing and growling until the 
white, fine cloud covers the whole spot, and even the 
summit of the volcano. Though Apo is well kno^vn 
to be active, there is no record of its eruptions. 



MINDANAO. 61 

The Apo volcano-seismic center is one of the most 
active of the Archipelago; small seismic shocks are 
felt weekly if not daily ; very often a rumbling sound 
precedes the stronger shocks." 

With the exception of Mindoro and Paragua, Min- 
danao is the most sparsely settled of all the principal 
islands. It has a population of about half a million, 
which gives only about fourteen to the square mile. 
The towns are mainly situated upon the coast, and 
the banks of the larger rivers and great inland lakes. 
A considerable portion of Mindanao is teri^a incognita, 
and it is believed that extensive areas are practically 
uninhabited. 

Development might transform Mindanao into one 
of the wealthiest islands of the Archipelago. There 
is reason to believe that it contains rich deposits of 
gold and other valuable minerals. Its forests abound 
in the most desirable hardwoods, and its vegetable 
products only need exploitation to exceed those of 
any other island in the Philippines. Mindanao has 
the peculiar advantage of producing spices of several 
varieties and in great quantities. Live stock is raised 
extensively, but the production of chief commercial 
value is hemp, in the output of which the island ranks 
fifth amongst the various hemp sections of the Archi- 
pelago. Except in a limited way, for local purposes, 
the mechanical industries are not prosecuted in Min- 
danao. 



62 THE PHILIPPINES. 

SULU. 

Sulu, or Jolo, is the chief island of the group of 
that name. It lies to the southwest of Mindanao. 
Sulu has a commercial and political importance quite 
incommensurate with its insignificant area. The 
scenery of the island is extremely beautiful, and it 
has a splendid climate. The soil is highly fertile 
and the greater proportion of the inhabitants are en- 
gaged in agriculture. There is a large extent of vir- 
gin forest composed mainly of trees of commercial 
value. There is some trade in the shipment of choice 
cabinet woods, but the chief exports are oyster pearls 
and mother-of-pearl shell. 

TAWI TAWI. 

This group of more than one hundred and fifty 
islands has an aggregate area of only 358 square 
miles. The principal island, Taw^i Tawi, is 232 
square miles in extent. The group forms part of the 
Sulu Archipelago. After the treaty of cession of the 
Philippine Islands had been made it was discovered 
that these islands lay six miles beyond the boundary 
limits. They were acquired by special convention 
and the payment of an extra gratuity to Spain. 

The inhabitants number less than twelve hundred. 
They are Moros, with no industries other than those 
of the simplest domestic character. During many 
centuries these islands have been a favorite resort of 
Malayan pirates. 



FAUNA, 63 

The fauna of the Philippines, whilst in general re- 
sembling that of the neighboring Malayan islands, 
shows some marked differences from them. Borneo 
and Java have many more species than are to be 
found in the Philippines, which have but three repre- 
sentatives of the carnivora, but six species of deer, 
and only two of the monkey tribe. Rodents are 
scarce, but there are at least thirty varieties of bats. 

ANIMAL LIFE. 

The carahao, few of which remain in a wild state, 
and the timarau, or antelope buffalo, are the only 
large mammals. The distribution of the fauna of 
the Archipelago is very remarkable. There are 
numerous species of animals which are found only 
in restricted localities. The timarau is peculiar to 
Mindoro. Porcupines are known only in Paragua 
and the Calamianes Islands. These two divisions 
also possess a number of birds which are not to be 
found elsewhere in the Philippines, although they are 
similar to Borneon species. The island of Balabac 
is the habitat of a curious animal little larger than a 
cat, but which in form is exactly like a doe.* Luzon 
contains 286 species of birds, 51 of which are not 
known in any other island. In Cebu, despite its 
proximity to Bohol on one side and to I^egros on the 



♦The Traouliis Ranchil. It is also found in Malacca and 
in Cochin China. Vide, Lucon et Palaouah, par Alfred 
Alarche, Paris, 1887. 



64 THE PHILIPPINES. 

other, there are nine species of birds not found else- 
where. Upwards of three hundred species of land 
birds exist in the Philippines. These include such 
game birds as duck, geese, snipe, plover, and quail. 

Crocodiles, snakes, and lizards are numerous and 
widely distributed. There is a small, chirping lizard 
which makes its home in the walls of houses and is 
regarded with a sort of superstitious favor by the 
natives. Pythons are to be found in many localities 
and are said to attain a length of forty feet. 

Whilst there are a great variety of insects, some of 
them exceedingly beautiful, insect life is not abundant 
numerically. There are comparatively few house 
flies, and, except about the marshy coast lands, mos- 
quitoes are nothing like the pest they become in most 
East Indian countries. 

The waters of the Archipelago harbor abundance 
of fish of various species, which form an important 
factor in the domestic economy of the natives. 

FLORA. 

In general the flora resemble those of Borneo, Su- 
matra, and Java. The principal features of the flora 
in their commercial aspects will be described else- 
where in connection with commerce and agriculture. 
The forests of the Archipelago are of enormous ex- 
tent and their product of incalculable value. Under 
conservative regulations, if these are not made so 
stringent as to discourage the investment of capital 



VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 65 

in lumber operations, the products of the forests 
should prove to be one of the chief factors in the pros- 
perity of the country. The Philippine Forestry 
Bureau reports 750 different kinds of wood brought 
to market during the year 1902, but this is probably 
far from representing the number of species avail- 
able for industrial purposes and domestic use under 
favorable conditions of operation. Under the Span- 
iards no scientific exploration of the forests was at- 
tempted. For some time past the Insular Forestry 
Bureau, under Captain G. P. Ahern, has been en- 
gaged in a systematic survey of the forest lands and 
a careful examination of species by experts. Climatic 
and other considerations are such that but for the 
interference of man these islands would be practically 
covered with trees, even up to the higher slopes of the 
mountains. As it is, tw^o-thirds of the area of the 
Archipelago is occupied by almost virgin forest, the 
cleared regions being in the main centers of popula- 
tion, such as the coast districts and the great valleys 
of Luzon and Mindanao. 

VEGETABLE PRODUCTS OF COMMEECIAL VALUE. 

The principal vegetable products, in the order of 
their commercial importance, are abaca (hemp), to- 
bacco, sugar, copra, coffee, and rice. 

The chief hemp districts are the southeastern prov- 
inces of Luzon, the islands of Catanduanes, Samar, and 
Leyte. Abaca is practically a monopoly of the Philip- 



66 THE PHILIPPINES. 

pines, for despite several efforts in different regions, 
this plant has not been successfully grown elsewhere. 

The main tobacco district is the valley of the 
Cagayan, in which an excellent variety of leaf is 
raised. It is believed by connoisseurs, familiar with 
the Cnban product, that with improved methods of 
cultivation, curing, etc., the Philippine leaf would 
compare favorably with any in the w^orld, excepting, 
perhaps, the output of the Yuelta Aba jo district of 
Cuba. Upwards of 20,000,000 pounds of leaf are 
shipped annually, most of it to Spain, and over 100,- 
000,000 cigars. These go chiefly to China, Japan, 
and the East Indies. 

Sugar is produced in many provinces, but particu- 
larly in Pampanga, of Luzon, and the island of Ne- 
gros. The cane is raised in a very haphazard fash- 
ion, and the greater part of the product is extracted 
by the crudest methods. Nevertheless, the export 
averages about 200,000,000 pounds a year. The pos- 
sibilities for an extension of this trade under more 
favorable conditions are very great. 

Copra, the dried kernel of the cocoanut, is shipped 
in large quantities to Prance and other countries, 
where oil is expressed from it. Probably there is no 
vegetable product in the island the cultivation of 
w^hich might be developed with greater profit. It is 
one of the few products which enjoy a commercial 
demand constantly equal to the entire supply. At 
present the industry is carried on in the most waste- 



VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 67 

ful and unintelligent manner and profits are allowed 
to accrue to the foreign manufacturer wliich should 
be retained by the cultivator. 

Coffee is grown in the provinces of Batangas, La- 
guna, Tayabas, and Cavite, of Luzon, and in parts of 
Mindanao. The Philippine article compares favor- 
ably with the products of Mocha and Java. At one 
time the annual crop amounted to about 14,000,000 
pounds, but in recent years it has greatly diminished, 
owing to the destruction of the plants by a parasitic 
insect. 

Palay, or rice, of a good quality may be raised in 
most of the provinces of the islands. It is the chief 
food of the natives, who annually consume a quan- 
tity greatly in excess of what is produced in the 
islands. The fact has not necessarily an unfavorable 
economic significance. In many districts, as for 
instance in the hemp provinces, the inhabitants can 
devote their land and energies to the production of a 
more valuable crop. Still, it cannot be denied that 
the Philippines should import less and raise more of 
this staple. There was a time when rice was a great 
article of export from Manila. 

The other vegetable products of note are chocolate, 
corn, w^heat, indigo, sesame, peanuts, and many varie- 
ties of garden vegetables. 

In Mindanao and Paragua cinnamon, nutmegs, 
cloves, mace and other spices grow, and there is a 
large field for the extension of their cultivation. 



68 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The tea plant thrives in certain localities, and it 
is believed that the camphor tree might be introduced 
v^ith success. 

MINERALS. 

There can be no doubt about the mineral wealth 
of the Philippines. It is probable that each island, 
and indeed almost every province, has rich deposits 
of one kind or another. Mining operations have never 
been sufficiently extensive to afford a satisfactory cri- 
terion of the profitability of that industry. There is 
sound ground, however, for the belief that with the 
increased working and transportation facilities that 
will soon be available the development of the mineral 
resources of the islands will yield large returns to 
investors. 

Coal in varying quality, from excellent to worthless, 
underlies a great part of the islands, deposits having 
been discovered in many provinces. Gold is distrib- 
uted over a large area and in some sections it has been 
worked from prehistoric times. It was doubtless ex- 
changed with the earliest traders, for the Chinese had 
a tradition that a mountain of the precious metal ex- 
isted in Luzon. Rich veins of copper have been dis- 
covered and worked to a very limited extent and in a 
primitive fashion. Iron is abundant on several of the 
islands, and natives have worked it in a crude man- 
ner into ploughshares and other implements. Lead, 
silver and other valuable metals are kno^Mi to exist in 



CLIMATE. 69 

various widely-distributed localities, but the scientific 
exploration of tlie mineral resources is only just 
beginning imder the direction of the United States 
Geological Survey and that of the Mining Bureau of 
the Philippine government. 

CLIMATE. 

The entire Philippine Archipelago lies within the 
Torrid Zone. Its climate therefore is in general 
tropical, but there are portions of the island to which 
the statement cannot be strictly applied. Not only 
are there great climatic differences amongst the vari- 
ous islands, but in those of the larger class the cli- 
matological conditions of the eastern coasts are dis- 
tinctly different from those in the interior and on 
the western coasts of the same islands. Such is the 
case in Luzon, Samar, Leyte, Mindanao, Panay, and 
Mindoro — more particularly in the last three — and 
other islands whose greatest length similarly extends 
from east to w^est. 

The year is popularly divided into three seasons: 

(1) E^ovember, December, Ja]iuary, and February, 
when it is dry and temperate, the monthly mean tem- 
perature oscillating between 25 C. and 26.5 C. ; 

(2) March, April, May, and June, the hottest period 
of the year, the monthly mean ranging from 27.5 C. 
to 28.5 C. ; (3) July, August, September, and Octo- 
ber, which is an intermediate period, the mean fluc- 
tuating between 26.5 C. and 27.5 C. 



70 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The climate is a perpetual summer, with a tempera- 
ture varying but little. There is a great deal of 
humidity, stimulating to vegetable life, but enervat- 
ing to human beings. It rains on an average two 
hundred days in the year. The mean heat in Luzon 
is about 81° Fahrenheit. The rainy season lasts for 
about six months, beginning the middle of April in the 
greater part of the islands, but on the coasts washed 
by the Pacific, the order of the wet and dry seasons is 
reversed. In general the hottest period is during the 
months of March, April, and May, except on the 
Pacific littoral, where the greatest heat is experienced 
during June, July, and August. 

The thermal map of the Archipelago supports the 
following classification, omitting notice of localities 
which are necessarily affected by unusual altitude : 

First. Pegions of high temperature. The great 
valley of the Cagayan ; the west coast as far south 
as the Bay of Manila ; the plains of Pangasinan ; 
the eastern portion of Tarlac and the western part 
of i^ueva Ecija; the lowlands of Pampanga and 
Bulacan; the northern coast of Tayabas and Am- 
bos Camarines; the entire southeastern peninsula, 
with the exception of Sorsogon ; the northern part 
of the Island of Panay. 

Second. Pegions of intermediate temperature. 
That portion of the province of Pampanga that bor- 
ders upon Zambales, and Bataan ; the uplands of Bula- 
can ; the province of Rizal ; the northern and eastern 



CLIMATE. 71 

sections of Bataan ; Manila, and its eastern vicinage ; 
the west coasts of Samar, ISTegros, Panay, and Boliol ; 
the island of Cebn, and tlie peninsula of Zamboanga. 
Third. Regions of mild temperature. The east 
coast of the province of Sorsogon; the greater part 
of the eastern Visayas (Samar, Leyte and the ad- 
jacent islands) ; the peninsula of Surigao ; the east 
coast of Mindanao; the entire Sulu Archipelago. 



THE INHABITANTS. 



11. 

THE INHABITANTS. 

Negrito Characteristics — Tlie Malays at Home — ISIalay Inva- 
sion of tlie Philippines — Early Malay Occnpation — Le- 
gaspi's Opinion of the Natives — Modern Estimates of the 
Filipino — An Effort to Reconcile Differences of Opinion 
— The Non-Christian Malays — The Moros — The Growth 
of Population. 

The aborigines of these islands are the ITegritos, 
or Aetas, of the mountains, who, nnder various local 
designations, are found widely scattered over the 
Archipelago to the number of about 30,000. Doctor 
Barrows says: ''The origin of these little people is 
unsolved, but even in historic times we know that 
they were more widely distributed, if not more numer- 
ous, than now, and the occurrence of the same little 
type in the Malay Peninsula and on the Andaman 
Islands in the Indian Ocean leads to the inference 
that they w^ere once in perhaps even continuous oc- 
cupation of the Malay Archipelago and the adjacent 
mainland from the Andaman Islands to the Philip- 
pines." Their resemblance to the Papuans has sug- 
gested the theory that New Guinea was their original 
habitat, but there is no substantial data to support 
the' surmise. The • E^egritos are completely savage, 
and almost as isolated to-day as they were centuries 
ago. 

(75) 



76 THE PHILIPPINES. 

They are much darker than the natives of Malayan 
descent, and many of them are quite black. They do 
not exhibit the ISTegroid cranial formation, but have 
the same cast of features, with "kinky" hair. They 
are pygmies — the average height of their men being 
about fifty-six inches — ill-formed and unmuscular, 
but supple and agile. Their intelligence is low. 

NEGRITO CHAEACTEEISTICS. - , 

They are deficient in courage and apparently have 
few attractive characteristics. All attempts at civil- 
izing them, collectively or individually, have failed, 
although in a few instances they have been domesti- 
cated. They live in small communities, subsisting 
on fish, roots, and such A^egetables as may be raised 
with the least effort. Their utmost agricultural 
achievement consists in scratching the earth and 
casting seed, without taking the trouble to clear the 
ground. Their manner of life is characterized by 
makeshift methods consistent with their nomadic ten- 
dencies. They do not build houses, but for shelter 
use a kind of lean-to, made of cane and matted leaves. 
lNrot infrequently they make raids into the plains and 
carry off the cattle of their more civilized neighbors. 
The costume of the men is restricted to an irreducible 
minimum of covering; that of the women consists, 
at most, of a string of beads and a loose cloth tied 
round the waist and reaching to the knees. The 
weapons of the Negritos are a bamboo spear, a club, 



NEGRITO CHARACTERISTICS. 77 

and a bow, with sometimes poisoned arrows. Their 
religion, like that of all primitive people who live in 
forests and mountains, includes a belief in spirits, 
who take an active interest in the affairs of men, and 
the adoration of such natural phenomena as excite 
their wonder or apprehension. The moon is their 
principal deitj. They have a great respect for old 
age and an awesome reverence for death. The Negrito 
is not originally, nor by natural inclination, a hill- 
man. The advance of civilization has forced him 
into the fastnesses of the mountains. The earliest 
Malay immigrants found him in undivided posses- 
sion of the land. The newcomers, until their num- 
bers became great enough for resistance, lived in 
vassalage to the Negritos and, at as late a period as 
that of the arrival of the Spaniards, there were com- 
munities of Tagalogs in Luzon paying tribute to the 
aboriginal inhabitants. 

Pure-blooded Xegritos still exist in different sec- 
tions, but their number is believed to be decreasing. 
Their mixture with the Malayan natives has generally 
resulted in an advance in mental and physical devel- 
opment. 

There are several hybrid races sprung from union 
of Malays and Negritos. The most notable of these 
in Luzon are the Dumagas. They occupy the coun- 
try lying east of the Sierra Madre. The Dumagas 
who live in the vicinity of Christian villages are 
slightly removed from the savage state. 



78 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The Maiigyans, a Xegrito-Visayan race, occupy 
nearly the entire interior of Mindoro Island and parts 
of Paragua. They engage in a primitive form of 
agriculture and collect forest produce, which is bar- 
tered with the Christians. These people have made 
a considerable advance from the state of the aborig- 
ines. Worcester, who appears to have been much im- 
pressed by the morality of the Mangyans, devotes a 
considerable portion of his book to a description of 
their customs, etc.* 

Doctor David P. Barrow^s, Chief of the Philippines 
Bureau of non-Christian Tribes, believes that, with 
the exception of the Xegritos, all the tribes of the 
islands, whether Christian, Muhammadan, or pagan, 
are derived from the Malayan race. ''We probably 
have," he says, ''in these tribes, two types, w^hich rep- 
resent an earlier and a later wave of immigration, but 
all came from the south, all speak languages belong- 
ing to one common stock, and all are closelv related 
in physical type and qualities of mind. As represen- 
tative of the first migratory movement may be named 
the Igorot, the mountain head-hunters of !N^orthern 
Luzon, and of the latter almost any of the present 
Christian, or Muhammadan tribes. The migratory 
period of this latter type is almost covered by the his- 
torical accounts of the exploration and settlement of 
the Far East." 



*The Philippine Islands. Dean C. Worcester. New York^ 
1899. 



Manila Cathedral. 

This stately cruciform building is the most beautiful 
structure in Manila. In the foreground is a caromata, 
with Philippine " poney '' and native hackman. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



THE MALAYS AT HOME. 79 

The Portuguese adventurers, who were first, of all 
white men, to reach Asia by sea, found the territory 
we call the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago inhab- 
ited by a people of Mongolian origin, who styled them- 
selves Malayu. They were short of stature, of a 
brown color, with black hair and prominent facial 
bones. They engaged in agriculture, had some trade, 
and displayed a tendency to seafaring. 

THE MALAYS AT HOME. 

A thousand years before the arrival of the Portu- 
guese the Archipelago had been invaded by the Hin- 
dus, who subjugated some of the islands and estab- 
lished in them the Brahmin religion. Traces of this 
Hindu occupation are to be found at the present day 
in the ruins of temples upon the island of Java. 

Later, the Arabs began to trade in this region and, 
following their invariable custom of proselyting 
wherever they went, converted large numbers of the 
inhabitants, and particularly the dwellers along the 
seaboard, to Islam. Before the advent of the Euro- 
peans, Muhammadanism had completely supplanted 
Brahmanism, but the influence of the Hindu occu- 
pation upon the language of the people is traceable 
to-day in the great proportion of words of Sanskrit 
origin, and there is every reason to believe that the 
Malays owe a considerable advance toward civiliza- 
tion to the Hindu invasion. 

Sometime about the end of the thirteenth, or the 



80 THE PHILIPPINES 

beginning of the fourteenth, century these Muhamma- 
dan ''Sea Folk," as the inhabitants of the Mahiy 
Archipelago were called, made a settlement in the 
northwest section of Borneo, which was already peo- 
pled by tribes of Malayan origin in a low state of 
development. From Borneo the Orang Salat (Sea 
Folk) advanced to the Sulu Archipelago and thence 
to Mindanao, to Mindoro, and the shore around 
Manila Bay. 

MALAY INVASIOi:^ OF THE PHILIPPII^ES. 

The Muhammadan invaders found upon the islands, 
besides the Xegrito aborigines, another race of the 
same physical type as themselves and speaking a 
language w^hich had the same root as their own. 
These were the descendants of an earlier, or per- 
haps of more than one, tide of Malay immigration. 
They occupied a much lower grade in the scale of cul- 
ture than did their Mvihammadan kinsmen. They 
painted and tattooed their bodies and lived in nest- 
like houses in the trees. They were pagans and ate 
dog meat. 

At the beginning of the sixteenth century the IRe- 
gritos were still a very numerous element in the popu- 
lation of the Philippines. The wild tribes of Malayan 
origin probably predominated over them in the 
Visayas and some of the southern islands. The Mu- 
hammadans were as yet numerically weak, but the 
tide of their immigration had fairly set in and they 



MALAY INVASION. 81 

began from tliis time to come into the country in 
constantly increasing numbers* A boatload of these 
newcomers were the first natives with whom Magel- 
lan's expedition came in contact when they landed in 
the neighborhood of Samar. One Pigafetta kept a 
diary of this ''first voyage around the world," from 
which we get the earliest description of the inhabi- 
tants of the island."^ The vessels of Magellan visited 
several of the islands in the Archipelago south of 
Luzon, but did not touch there. Everywhere they 
found a very sparse population, and despite their 
offers of merchandise in exchange for provisions they 
were with difiiculty able to secure enough food to 
stave off starvation. Cebu seems to have been one 
of the most populous and important centers. Ves- 
sels from far foreign parts came there for gold and 
slaves. The voyagers heard that a junk had departed 
thence to Siam just before their arrival and were told 
that the Chinese had been trading with the islands for 
centuries. ^'To the northeast," says Pigafetta, "is 
the island of Lozon, which is very great, to which 
go every year for the sake of traffic six or eight 
junks from the country of the Lechios," by which he 
probably meant one of the provinces of China. f At 

* Primer Viaje alrededor del Muudo. Spanish translation, 
Madrid, 1899. 

-}■ Some of the writers of the sixteenth century entertained 
a belief, for which there does not appear to have been any 
j;ood ground, that the Philippines at one time constituted a 
colony of the Chinese Empire. Meudoza in his History of 

6 



g2 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the island of Siilii the pearl fisheries, for which the 
locality is celebrated to-day, excited the interest of 
the Spaniards. On the coast of Mindanao they fell 
in with the curious ^^sea gypsies," the Samal Lant, 
who frequent the same region at the present time and 
now, as then, form communities of boat-dwellers, 
moving from place to place with the changing seasons 
and conditions. They passed an island ^Svhose in- 
habitants," says the chronicler, ''are negroes like 
those of Ethiopia." This is the only mention he 
makes of the Negritos, who must, however, have been 
numerous inland of several of the islands touched at. 

EAKLY MALAY OCCUPATION. 

The three expeditions succeeding that of Magellan 
made no settlement in the islands and added hardly 
anything to the information we have regarding them. 
In 1565 Legaspi landed on the island of Cebu and, 
despite resistance, maintained his footing, with per- 
haps one hundred and fifty men, until reinforce- 
ments reached him three years later from Mexico. 
Legaspi then proceeded to the conquest of Panay, 

China (1586) states that "these islands were formerly sub- 
ject to the King of China until he relinquished them volun- 
tarily." In "The Philippine Islands" (1609), De Morga 
said: "The Dutch MemoraWe Emhassics states that the 
Spaniards subjected these islands almost without striking a 
blow, the inhabitants having forgotten the art of war. and 
almost renounced civil life since they shook off the Chinese 
Yoke. Since the Chinese had lost their dominion over these 
islands they had not ceased to trade with them," etc. 



EARLY MALAY OCCUPATION. 83 

which was made the base from which the occupation 
of Mindoro and Luzon was effected. The most popu- 
lous portions of the Archipelago at this time were 
Cebu, Panay in the vicinity of Iloilo, the country 
about Manila Bay, and around Laguna de Bay, the 
valleys of the Pampanga and Bicol rivers, and the 
coast of Ilocos. Even in these sections, however, the 
inhabitants were very scanty, and the largest centers 
consisted of communities of only a few thousand 
souls under their independent chieftains, who still 
retained the Hindu title of rdjd. Tavera says, ''these 
small groups were in many places known by the name 
of harangay, which is also the exact word used to de- 
scribe a small craft used by the indigines, and would 
therefore appear to indicate that the people forming 
each of these town groups were descendants of the 
crews of particular crafts since the time of their 
original immigration to these islands. The popula- 
tion of the various harangayes was in some cases 
not over fifty inhabitants and in others, as was ob- 
served by Selcedo in Ilocos, the number reached as 
high as seven thousand.""^ Slavery was universally 
maintained amongst these natives of Malay blood. 



* "The term halangay, or boat, still applied to the villages, 
recalls the time when these mariners, encamping on the 
beach, continued to lead much the same life as when scour- 
ing the high seas in their praiis. As was the case with the 
sampans, or junks, of the more recent Chinese settlers every 
MJangay became the cradle of a Malay colony." The Earth 
and its Inhabitants. Elisee Reclus. New York, 1892. 



84 THE PHILIPPINES. 

There were different degrees of the condition, and 
it was created in a variety of ways. Prisoners of 
war, or persons secured by purchase, were absolute 
chattels. Others were held in perpetual service who 
might not be disposed of by their masters. A man 
sometimes entered into bondage as security for a loan, 
and in this case the creditor might transfer the debt 
and the security. One forfeited his freedom by 
trespassing upon the lands or dwelling of the chief, 
or by looking at the chief's wife. Slavery was some- 
times the penalty, by commutation from capital pun- 
ishment, for certain crimes, such as the seduction 
of the wife, or daughter, of a leading member of the 
community. 

Each resident, or perhaps family unit, of the 
harangay had a definite allotment of land. !N^o mem- 
ber of the community might violate his neighbor's 
landrights, nor might the members of one harangay 
encroach upon the boundaries of another. Land might 
pass by purchase, gift, or inheritance, and in some 
instances the chief had acquired all the land of the 
harangay. 

Occasionally independent harangayes would form 
a confederation for mutual defense, or for co-opera- 
tion in soiue enterprise. They would then create a 
common chief by popular election, usually from one 
of_the families in which that office was hereditary. 
The chief, who was called rdjd, or dato, acted as 
judge in all criminal trials and civil disputes. There 



EARLY MALAY OCCUPATION. 85 

were certain recognized offenses and penalties, but 
nothing approaching to a code of laws. It was al- 
most always possible for the criminal to secure exemp- 
tion from other punishment by the payment of a 
compensatory fine to the injured person, or to the 
chief. A constant state of petty warfare existed. In 
addition to fights among themselves, the various com- 
munities, or federations, had to repel the attacks of 
ladroiies and pirates and to hold in check the ISTegritos. 
As a rule only free men were engaged as warriors, 
but slaves were commonly employed as rowers in the 
sea fights. The arms used were lances, bows and 
arrows, and the famous Malay kris. For protection, 
helmets, and shields of wood and copper, were em- 
ployed, and breastplates of horn. In various locali- 
ties the Spaniards were opposed by natives using can- 
non. There was a foundry in Manila under the 
supervision of a Portuguese, or Hindu, where the 
cannon were cast. It is probable, however, that the 
art was learned from the Chinese. Legaspi, writing 
to the King of Spain (1570), regarding the Moros of 
Panay, says: 'The latter have artillery, which they 
themselves cast and finish, and likewise powder and 
other ammunition. ... I send you two bronze 
culver ins made by the Moros of this land, so that 
your Majesty may see what dexterity they possess 
in making and casting artillery." 

Money was unknown and crude gold was used as 
a substitute, but their trade was for the most part 



86 THE PHILIPPINES. 

conducted on a system of barter in kind, that was, 
perhaps, better adapted to the economic condition of 
the bulk of the people. They had standard weights 
and measures derived from the Chinese, some of 
which are still in use. They held periodical fairs 
(an old-time institution of the Malays) at different 
points, to which the natives of neighboring districts 
resorted in their light draft boats, bringing the prod- 
uct of the field and the loom, as well as articles of 
ornament fashioned from gold, silver, copper, and 
mother-of-pearl. 

Some of the Malayan tribes had a primitive liter- 
ature. Their alphabet consisted of seventeen letters, 
three of which were vowels. Like the early Singalese, 
they employed the palm leaf in making their books. 
These, which doubtless contained valuable records of 
their history and customs, were unfortunately burned 
by the first missionaries, who deemed them an impedi- 
ment to the furtherance of the conversion of the 
islanders. 

The religion of the Malayan pagans seems to have 
been an idolatrous polytheism. They recognized three 
supreme deities, by whom all the affairs of life were 
ordered. There were a number of minor gods, or 
spirits of malevolent intent, who might, however, be 
propitiated on occasion. Each family worshipped the 
spirits of its ancestors, termed anitos, who were be- 
lieved to be capable of exerting a beneficial influence 
over the lives of their descendants. Anito idols, fash- 



EARLY MALAY OCCUPATION. 87 

ioned from various materials, were part of the furni- 
ture of every home. A certain number of slaves were 
slain and buried with a man of consequence in order 
that he might have a proper retinue in the next 
Avorld. The Visayans interred the slaves alive on 
these occasions in the belief that living attendants 
would be more pleasing to the deceased noble. Some- 
times slaves were killed and their spirits despatched to 
the master's ancestors for the purpose of pleading with 
them to remove from him some illness or calamity. 

The funeral ceremonies were feasts at which it was 
customary to dissipate in food and drink a consid- 
erable portion of the property left by the deceased. 
At these ceremonies, animals, and sometimes slaves, 
were sacrificed, and the priests performed war dances 
of the wildest character. 

The costume of men and women was similar, ex- 
cept that the latter wore cloth of a finer texture. It 
consisted of a loose shirt-like garment not unlike that 
worn by the up-country Filipino at the present time, 
reaching to below the loins, supplemented by a cloth 
hanging from the waist. It was their custom to go 
without head-covering. The apparel of the well-to-do 
was decorated with laces and embroidery, which the 
natives made with great skill. Men and women wore 
combs in their hair and adorned their bodies with 
ear and finger rings, bangles, necklaces, and anklets. 
The majority of the people went barefoot, but the 
upper class wore shoes, or slippers. It was consid- 



88 THE PHILIPPINES. 

ered a mark of distinction to perforate the teeth and 
fill the holes with gold, and to file the incisors to a 
point. The latter practice still prevails among cer- 
tain wild tribes. 

Their houses, of bamboo and palm leaf thatch, were 
erected at a considerable height npon timber supports. 
A village was frequently built several hundred feet 
out in the water of a lake, or river, or upon the shore 
of the sea. 

It is from these people that the great body of Chris- 
tian and domesticated natives of the Philippines are 
descended. They are from the same Malayan stock 
as the Moro, but owing to differences of religion, en- 
vironment, manner of life and political condition, 
have developed diversified physical and mental char- 
acteristics. They are the ^ 'representative" people 
of the Archipelago, and to them the name ' 'Filipino" 
is applied in a distinctive sense. 

LEGASPl's OPIITIOIS^ OF THE IN'ATIVES. 

In 1565, after four years' residence in the islands, 
Legaspi w^rote thus of the Malay natives of Cebu: 

"These people wear clothes, but they go barefooted. 
Their dress is made of cotton, or of a kind of 
grass resembling raw silk. . . . They are a 
crafty and treacherous race, and understand every- 
thing. . . . They are naturally of a cowardly 
disposition and distrustful, and if one has treated 
them ill, they never came back. . . . They are a 



LEGASPI'S OPINION OF THE NATIVES. 89 

people extremely vicious, fickle, iintriithful, and 
full of superstitions. No law binds relative to 
relative, parents to children, or brother to brother. 
.]^o person favors another unless it is for his own 
interest. On the other hand, if a man, in some time 
of need, shelters a relative, or a brother, in his house, 
supports him and provides him with food for a few 
days, he will consider that relative as his slave from 
that time on and is served by him. . . . \Vlien 
these people give or lend anything to one another the 
favor must be repaid double, even if between parents 
and children, or between brothers. At times they sell 
their own children when there is little need or neces- 
sity for doing so. 

'^Privateering and robbery have a natural attraction 
for them. Whenever the occasion presents itself they 
rob one another, even if they be neighbors, or rela- 
tives, and when they see, or meet, one another in the 
open fields at nightfall they rob and seize one another. 
Any native who possesses a basketful of rice 
will not seek for more, or do any further work until 
it is finished. Thus does their idleness surpass their 
covetousness. ... I believe that these natives 
could be easily subdued by good treatment and the 
display of kindness, . . . but if we undertake 
to subdue them by force of arms and make war on 
them they will perish and we will lose both friends 
and foes, for they readily abandon their houses and 
towns for other places, or precipitately disperse among 



90 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the mountains and uplands, and neglect to plant their 
fields. . . . One can see a proof of this in the 
length of time it takes them to settle do^\Ti again in 
a town which has been plundered, even if no one of 
them has been killed, or captured. . . . Thev 
easily believe what is told and presented forcibly to 
them. They hold some superstitions, such as the 
casting of lots before doing anything, and other 
wretched practices, all of which will be easily eradi- 
cated if we have some priests who know their lan- 
guage and will preach to them." 

The early descriptions of native character must be 
taken with a great deal of reserv^e. Indeed, nothing 
in the least approaching a general agreement upon 
the subject has ever been arrived at. WTien several 
witnesses in later times, who have enjoyed the ad- 
vantage of intimate contact with the native over a 
long term of years, reach materially differing, and 
often contradictory, conclusions, it is easy to believe 
that the earlier Spanish residents, whose opportuni- 
ties for close observation were much inferior, should 
have erred in their estimates. Furthermore, the 
point of view of the Spanish conquerors was entirely 
unfavorable to a right understanding. They had a 
fanatical belief in a divine mission and considered 
the islands a possession of their King by right of 
Papal gift. That the natives did not fall in with 
this idea was incomprehensible to them and created 
in their minds an adverse prejudice. 



LEGASPrS OPINION OF THE NATIVES. 91 

During the past four centuries of European in- 
fluence the character of the Filipino has doubtless 
improved in many respects, but the more recent writ- 
ers have depicted it in anything but a flattering light. 
The character of a people is always, to a considerable 
extent, a reflection of its government, and the history 
of the colony under Spanish dominion will afford 
many a key to the present traits and disposition of 
the Filipinos. Tomas de Comyn expresses this idea 
in his ''State of the Philippine Islands" (1820). 
Referring to the Christian tribes, whom we now have 
under consideration, he says: 

''They are credulous and superstitious, cunning, 
yet of weak capacities, but possibly a great number 
of their defects may be attributed to their ignorance, 
want of civilization, and the had administration of 
justice. They are, nevertheless, hospitable to stran- 
gers and, excepting in their robberies, piracies, and 
acts of public, and private, revenge, harmless in their 
manners. 

"Besides distance from the mother country and, 
as will be seen by their history, the dreadful misfor- 
tunes to which they have been so often exposed, the 
wavering and uncertain nature of the regulations in- 
tended for their government, the hostility of the 
European rivals (to one another), and the litigious 
spirit of the inhabitants themselves, as well as the 
unceasing lawsuits and dissensions to which this has 



92 THE PHILIPPINES. 

given rise have been of most material injury to the 

colony." 

MODEEI^ ESTIMATES OF THE FILIPINO. 

Although the differences of opinion prevail at all 
periods among writers dealing with the Filipinos, it 
is noticeable that their strictures decrease with the 
advancing years and that their condemnation is more 
frequently tempered by the mention of redeeming 
features. 

Dean C. Worcester, at present a member of the 
Philippine Commission, writes as follows : 

^'The native is a philosopher. He works when 
obliged to and rests whenever he can get an oppor- 
tunity. . . . From the very outset our servants 
stole from us. . . . The Philippine native seems 
ever ready to kill his last fowl for a stranger or share 
with him his last pot of rice. . . . On the whole 
I believe that they are fairly intelligent, and they 
are often most anxious for an opportunity to get 
some education. . . . They frequently lie with- 
out any excuse whatever, unless it be the aesthetic 
satisfaction derived from the exercise of their remark- 
able talent in this direction. When one of them is 
detected in a falsehood he is simply chagrined that 
his performance was not more creditably carried out. 
He feels no sense of moral guilt and cannot under- 
stand being punished for what is not to his mind an 
offense. . . . The Filipino certainly has many 



MODERN ESTIMATES OF THE FILIPINO. 93 

good qualities to offset his bad traits. The traveler 
cannot fail to be impressed by his open-handed and 
cheerful hospitality. ... If cleanliness be next 
to godliness, he certainly has much to recommend him. 
Every village has its bath if there is any chance for 
one, and men, women, and children patronize it 
liberally. . . . Hardly less noticeable than the 
almost universal hospitality are the well-regulated 
homes and the happy family life that one finds to be 
the rule. Children are orderly, respectful, and obedi- 
ent to their parents. Wives are allowed an amount 
of liberty hardly equaled in any other Eastern coun- 
try, and they seldom abuse it. 

^'The native is self-respecting and self -restrained to 
a remarkable degree. He is patient under misfortune, 
and forbearing under provocation. While it is 
stretching the truth to say that he never reveals anger, 
he certainly succeeds much better in controlling him- 
self than does the average European. . . . He is 
a kind father and a dutiful son. His aged relatives 
are never left in want, but are brought to his home 
and are welcome to share the best that it affords to 
the end of their days.* Among his fellows he is 
genial and sociable. He loves to sing, dance, and 
make merrv. He is a born musician. . . . He 



*. The testimony to the Filipino's hospitality and his re- 
j?arcl for the welfare of his family and relatives is indisput- 
able, although in strong contrast to the statements of Legaspi 
and other early writers. 



94 THE PHILIPPINES. 

is naturally fearless and admires nothing so much as 
bravery in others." 

AI^ EFFOKT TO KECONCILE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. 

Perhaps the differences of conclusion regarding the 
Filipino character, to which we have referred, are 
due in some measure to failure to allow for artificial, 
or acquired, characteristics in the cases of the Fili- 
pinos of the cities and large centers of civilization, 
who exhibit effects of long-continued and close con- 
tact with their European over-lords. A subject race 
which is doomed to occupy a position of hopeless in- 
feriority is more apt to acquire the vices than the 
virtues of its conquerors and is often forced in self- 
protection to adopt the natural safeguards of the weak 
— prevarication, deception, treachery and the rest. 
Other characteristics of the native may be attribut- 
able, in degree at least, to the conditions of domina- 
tion under which they have lain for centuries. 

Perhaps the most universal characteristic of the 
native is his disregard for truth. This is a confirmed 
habit due to mental perversion, rather than to vicious 
impulse, or sinister calculation. The Filipino lies 
spontaneously, often without purpose, and always 
without any sense of wrong. This peculiarity is 
shared by the Chinese and other Orientals. In some 
cases, where falsehood is contrary to the religious doc- 
trine, justification is found for it, and, perhaps, 
priestly excuse extended, when it is used to confound 



THE TRUE FILIPINO. 95 

the foreigner, or the oppressor. After all, this is 
only human nature in the raw. 

Until it is thoroughly understood, and allowance 
is made for inherent peculiarities, the character of 
an Oriental people cannot be fairly measured by 
Western standards, nor, since their reasoning is based 
upon conflicting principles, can one race judge the 
other with impartiality. The European verdict that 
"all Asiatics are liars" is true only from the view- 
point of the former. The underdog will generally 
lie for the sake of saving his hide, and Europeans 
under such conditions have frequently lied, indi- 
vidually and collectively. The early conquests of the 
white men have invariably been marked by bad faith 
toward the conquered, and the story of Spanish col- 
onization is certainly not less marred in this manner 
than that of any other nation. 

The Oriental is above all things exuberantly imag- 
inative ; he thinks in hyperbole and speaks in hyper- 
bole. The consequence is that the slow-blooded 
European, with his precise mental processes and lit- 
eral expression, is very apt to conceive deliberate 
deception where no such design is entertained. Even 
when the Oriental lies with forethought the animus 
behind the act is frequently harmless. It is often 
merely a resistless ebullition of his innate love of sub- 
tle processes or a desire to please his hearer. Such a 
mental condition is diflicult of comprehension to the 
Anglo-Saxon Avith his inborn habit of directness in 
thought and speech. 



96 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Laziness is another defect with which the native is 
justly charged, but here again it is not difficult to 
find extenuating circumstances. The energy of any 
people is measurable by the stimulus to exertion to 
w^hich it is subject. The indolence natural to all in- 
habitants of the tropics has been encouraged in the 
Filipino by the knowledge that increased effort would 
entail an increase in his taxation, rental, and con- 
tribution to the Church, without commensurate ad- 
vantage to himself ; thus his ambition has been reason- 
ably limited to the accomplishment of a slight im- 
provement in his material comfort. Hitherto the 
Filipino has not had a sufficient incentive to exer- 
tion. With worthy objects for which to work; with 
the possibilities of social advancement and material 
betterment ; with opportunity for mental culture, and 
with the spread of education, may come, or rather 
surely will come, awakening of ambition and quick- 
ening of energy. It is not, however — fortunately 
for the Western nations — possible that a tropical peo- 
ple should exhibit the activity characteristic of the 
dwellers in temperate climes. 

The Filipino is not practical. He has no concern 
beyond to-day, and is apparently incapable of a sus- 
tained purpose, but when one surveys the environ- 
ment, and political and economic condition, of these 
people during the past centuries it is difficult to 
see how it could be otherwise with them. On the 
other hand the native is very susceptible to guidance 



THE TRUE FILIPINO 97 

and is always willing, and frequently eager, to learn. 
Unlike the Chinaman, he has a humble estimate of 
his own mental powers, and never thinks to pit his 
own ideas against those of his European mentor. In- 
deed, the Filipino is a docile and a faithful pupil, and 
probably much of the condemnation of him as a la- 
borer is due to the fact that, in the hands of a Euro- 
pean master, he is prone to refrain from all initiative 
in action, and even thought, and to do precisely as he 
is told. It is more than likely that, if intelligent ad- 
vantage is taken of this tendency, the native appren- 
tice may be converted into a highly capable and satis- 
factory workman. He lacks originality, it is true, 
but he has the imitative faculty in an extreme degree, 
and ''only needs to be shown," as one who has em- 
ployed native labor extensively declares, in order 
to do a thing as well as the demonstrator. It must be 
borne in mind that the restricted place opened to the 
Filipino in the Spanish civilization afforded little 
scope for the cultivation of responsibility, initiative, 
or endeavor. Under the encouraging conditions of 
the new regime, with its ample opportunities, he may 
develop unsuspected qualities of a high order. 

Under guidance, or control, the average native will 
live in a useful and rational manner, but he is very 
thoughtless, and, lacking good influence, is likely to 
act .unwisely, and may even commit grave offenses on 
impulse, or for want of serious consideration. Sel- 
dom, however, will he be guilty of a crime on his own 



98 THE PHILIPriNES. 

initiative. There is comparatively little vice in his 
composition, bnt he is easily led toward good, or evil. 
In fact his faults and shortcomings are largely those 
of an infant stage of mental development. There is 
much of the child in his makenp, and of a child whose 
training has not been of the best. He is deferent, 
almost to the extent of servility, to superiority of 
intellect, station, or w^ealth. Although he exhibits 
ingenuity and resourcefulness in the everyday affairs 
of life, he lacks self-reliance and moral courage. He 
is not deficient in physical bravery, but the quality is 
of the spontaneous and evanescent order. He is read- 
ily depressed by a check, or by a sense of inferiority 
to his antagonist. Unlike the Moro, he accepts de- 
feat with placid resignation, and as a victor he is 
cruel and ungenerous. Like the Sipahi, the Filipino 
makes an excellent fighting man under European 
leadership, but his worth in this capacity is entirely 
dependent upon such leadership. His dislike of dis- 
cipline is a bar to his becoming a good soldier at pres- 
ent. He displays the common Oriental trait of en- 
durance under hardship and suffering and the equally 
common Oriental tendency to supine submission to 
the buffets of Fate. 

The Filipino is extremely sober, and scrupulously 
clean in his person and surroundings, traits that may 
have been derived from early Hindu influences, and 
which were certainly never enhanced by contact with 
the aboriginal tribes. He has the domestic qualities 



THE TRUE FILIPINO. 99 

well developed. He is a good father and husband, 
and displays great regard and respect for aged pa- 
rents. Indeed, the ties of relationship are acknowl- 
edged to a remarkable extent. A household com- 
monly includes two, or three, poor kinsmen, whose 
connection with the heads of the family is almost 
too remote to be traced. His hospitality is proverbial. 
A well-to-do Filipino will house a traveler as long 
as he may choose to stay. Everything that his host 
possesses — horses, carriages, guns, servants, and the 
rest — is cheerfully placed at the command of the vis- 
itor. Xo remuneration whatever would be accepted, 
nor is any kind of return expected, or desired. 

The Filipino is grave and dignified in bearing, and 
rarely displays emotion of any kind, although he is 
capable of strong passion. He has little, or no, sense 
of humor, never makes a jocular remark and seldom 
appreciates one. He is genial and extremely sociable. 
Gambling is a mania with him, and he is very fond 
of show. He is improvident to the extent of reck- 
lessness, and will spend his last jjeso on a cock-fight, 
for a feast, or in the purchase of cheap trinkets for 
his wife. 

Whilst the Filipino is honest in the main, his con- 
ception of moral obligations is not of the keenest. He 
rarely steals, but he may borrow without any thought 
of return, unless demand is made upon him. He will 
secure money as a loan, or in consideration of future 
service, and, although he never repudiates the in- 

LOFC 



100 THE PHILIPPINES. 

debtedness, it is frequently difficult to enforce re- 
payment, or the performance of the promised work. 
His sense of gratitude is rather dull. He is apt to 
suspect an ulterior motive behind a concession, or a 
gift, and this may be a logical outcome of his experi- 
ence with the white man. 

The Filipino compares favorably with the China- 
man, or the Hindu, and gives greater promise of 
future development than either. He is more tracta- 
ble than the former, and has none of his innate aver- 
sion to Western civilization; he is more intelligent 
than the latter, and is not hampered by religious preju- 
dices, nor caste restrictions. Indeed, there is no East- 
ern people that presents more favorable material for 
conversion to Western civilization than do the Chris- 
tian tribes of the Philippine Islands. 

AVhilst the foregoing applies in general to the 
Christian natives, some of the tribes furnish marked 
exceptions in certain particulars and the small upper 
class, the gente ilustrada, have developed many quali- 
ties that are at variance with the typical Filipino 
character. 

THE NOX-CHKISTIAN- MALAYS. 

Of the non-Christian Malays, excepting Moros, 
the Igorots are by far the most numerous. The cen- 
sus enumeration places them in excess of 183,000. 
They are distributed over eleven of the northern 
provinces of Luzon in various stages of development, 



THE NON-CHRISTIAN MALAYS. 101 

ranging from the wild head-hunters of Bontoc to the 
semi-civilized Tinguian of Abra. They are most 
numerous in Lepanto-Bontoc, Nueva Vizcaya, and 
Benguet, where they constitute the hulk of the popu- 
lations. They inhabit the higher valleys and moun- 
tain ranges. In general they are physically superior 
to the Filipinos of the lowlands. They are an in- 
telligentj happy people, of good morals and indus- 
trious habits, with a strong vein of independence in 
their composition. 

The Malays never effected large political organiza- 
tions. The point is illustrated in the harangay system 
of the early Tagalogs. The political unit of the Igo- 
rots is the harrio, or hamlet, several of which may go 
to make up a township. Under normal conditions the 
town across the valley is an enemy and seeks the 
heads of its neighbors. ''I have stood," says Doctor 
Barrows, ''in a single Igorot town and looked across 
the steep hillsides and river valleys where in every 
direction within a radius of six miles a man's life 
of that town would have been unsafe. His head 
would unfailingly have been taken had he ventured 
unprotected so far from home." This applies par- 
ticularly to the eastern portion of the Igorot coun- 
try. Toward the west coast the people are much 
more nearly civilized and have abandoned their old- 
tinie practice of head-hunting. Here the central gov- 
ernment is recognized and respected and, although 
in many districts the ancient petty courts are still 



102 THE PHILIPPINES. 

maintained, appeals from their decisions are fre- 
quently made to the American authorities. 

Every Igorot harrio has its judicial body of old 
men, who dispose of all cases from petty theft to 
murder. If the matter is one affecting the entire 
tOAvn a composite court is formed of members of 
the various barrios interested. Most penalties take the 
form of a fine payable in cattle, or other property. 
Trial by ordeal is commonly practiced. The podung, 
or bloody test, consists in boring holes in the scalps 
of the suspect and his accuser. The verdict goes 
to the one who bleeds the least. AMien one of a num- 
ber of persons is believed to be a criminal, each of 
them is given a mouthful of dry rice to chew. After 
mastication this is spat out upon the hands of the 
judges and he whose mass exhibits the least saliva 
is deemed convicted, in accordance with their proverb, 
which says, ^'A guilty man has a dry mouth." 

The Sun is the great god of the Igorots, and the 
Moon is his brother. They believe in a number of 
evil spirits. An Igorot maintains that personally he 
is sinless and can do no wrong unless at the instiga- 
tion of one of these spirits, which enters into him and 
subdues his will. One who has had intimate rela- 
tions with them says, ^^the conception of right and 
wrong is a quality fully developed in the Igorot mind 
throughout all conditions of life ! and fully in accord 
with the present civilized conception of right and 
wrong. They believe in virtue in both male and 



THE NON-CHRISTIAN MALAYS. 103 

female; they believe in honesty and faithfulness in 
the performance of any task, no matter how arduous 
it is made for them by those in authority, and perform 
these tasks cheerfully/' 

The canao is a ceremonial dance and feast. It is 
the occasion for the consumption of a great deal of 
meat and drink. Horse, carahao, hog, and deer 
are eaten, and dog is an especial delicacy. It is a 
point of etiquette with the Igorot to continue eating 
as long as a fragment of the viands remains. Bassi 
is an intoxicant produced from rice and sugar-cane. 
It is freety consumed by the Igorots, who are by no 
means so abstemious as the Filipino. 

Amongst the Igorots, as with almost all wild, or 
savage, races, tlie women perform the greater share 
of labor, but the men are very far from being idle, 
and it is possible that the arrangement had its origin 
as a defensive measure. Even at this day, amongst 
the worst head-hunters, the women work in the paddy 
fields whilst the men mount guard with their arms 
against their neighbors. 

Unlike the N^egritos they are a stationary people. 
A village wdll move only for serious reasons, and then 
never more than a few miles from its old site. For 
the Igorot the whole world is peopled with evil spirits, 
and human beings eager to decapitate him, and there- 
fore he dreads to cross his communal boundaries- 
This of course does not apply to the western com- 
munities which are in touch with the civilization of 



104 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the seacoast provinces, but even these retain their 
sedentary tendencies. 

They live poorly and not nnder the most sanitary 
conditions, but their wants are few, and they are 
perfectly contented. There is no such thing as pau- 
perism amongst them. The aged, indigent, and 
crippled are cheerfully supported by the community. 
The case is reported of a man in one of their barrios 
who has been dangerously insane for nine years. He 
has been confined in a hut all this time and two men 
of the community have been detailed each Aveek to 
feed him and keep his habitation clean. AYlien any 
person dies one-half of his edible possessions and of 
his herds and flocks is eaten up by the community to 
which he belonged. During the feast the body of the 
deceased is tied in a chair in his house that he may 
see that no personal enemy partakes of his bounty. 
The burial of a rich man may thus be deferred for 
months. 

THE MOROS. 

The word ^'Moro," or Moor, in its original sig- 
nification simply meant Muhammadan. It is not an 
ethnologic term, but is generally used at present as 
a comprehensive designation for the several Malayan 
tribes of the southern islands, who adhere to Islam. 

We have already mentioned the Samal Laut, those 
curious gypsies of the sea, wdio wandered long ago 
from their old haunts in Johore and the Straits of 



THE MOROS. 105 

Malacca to the Suln Archipelago. Great numhera 
of their descendants, named Bajaiis, are found about 
those islands to-day and along the southern coast of 
Mindanao. They maintain the manner of life of 
their roving ancestors. Each family inhabits a boat 
and a fleet of half a dozen or so comprises a com- 
munity. They have no political organization, but 
recognize temporarily the authority of the dato off 
whose shore they may happen to be lying and pay 
tribute to him during their stay. They move about 
as inclination, or the monsoon, may dictate, and 
absolutely make their home upon the waters. They 
traffic in the products of the sea and find their main 
subsistence in them. They barter trepang, edible 
seaweed, and sharks' fins with the Chinese traders, 
for tapioca and cloth. 

Slavery is general among the Bajaus, and every 
man of a community is required to work one or two 
days of each week for his chief, or capitan Bajau. 

Despite their wandering lives upon the water, the 
Bajaus never consign their dead to the sea, but bury 
them upon some particular island which has been 
selected as the family, or community, cemetery. IN^o 
matter how far away they may be, or how engaged, 
when one of their number dies they will carry his 
body to the customary burying ground. Absolutely 
everything that the Bajau possessed is interred with 
him. Even his boat is broken up and the pieces 
placed in his grave. 



106 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The Samal Moros are descended from the same 
stock as the Bajaus, but have abandoned the life upon 
the water, though thej still live over it, their villages 
being built over the sea, facing broad, sandy beaches. 
The Samals affect to despise their boat-dwelling broth- 
ers, who are degenerates in the matter of religion. 
Large villages of Samals are found in different parts 
of the Sulu Archipelago. They are the dominant peo- 
ple of Zamboanga peninsula, and form the bulk of the 
population of the Tawi Tawi group. Their chief oc- 
cupation everywhere is fishing, with which, in some 
localities, they combine a little agriculture. 

The Samals were the dreaded Malay pirates whose 
depredations the Spaniards were powerless to check 
until gunboats were brought to bear against them. Up 
till within sixty years ago they made annual raids 
upon the Visayan Islands, looting towns and carry- 
ing away captives to slavery. It is said that the last 
such expedition dates from less than twenty-five years 
ago. 

For the most part the Moros live upon the coasts, 
but there is a great tribe, the Malanao, numbering 
upwards of 95,000, in the interior of Mindanao. 
Their towns are thickly clustered about the district 
around Lake Lanao. Another numerous tribe is the 
Maguindanao, settled chiefly in the district of Cot- 
tabato, whence they have extended to the Gulf of 
Davao, on the opposite coast. 

The Moros are prosperous and happy. All their 



THE MOROS. 107 

needs, or possible wants, are easily supplied. The sea 
and the soil yield subsistence with very little effort 
and beyond a full stomach and a few simple luxuries 
the desires of the Moro do not extend ; nor does his 
environment afford any scope for ambition, or energy. 
Since the exercise of his fighting proclivities has been 
curtailed there does not appear to be any outlet for 
his activity. 

Almost all Moro industries are of the domestic 
order. Agriculture, supplemented by fishing, is the 
mainstay of the people. They raise rice, corn, ca- 
motes, or sweet potatoes, and other vegetables by a 
very simple, but apparently satisfactory, method. 
The ground is broken with pointed sticks and, aside 
from sowing and weeding, nothing more is done to it. 

Boat buildiug is a hereditary occupation with the 
Moros and an important industry, where every family 
owns one boat at least and often several. Every man 
can repair a boat, and most of them are able to make 
some kind of craft. Even the inland Moro passes 
a great part of his time upon the waters of the lakes 
and rivers. 

Another industry of consequence and repute is 
that of the manufacture of weapons. From Chinese 
traders are obtained the iron and steel which are 
forged into hrisses, holos, spears, daggers, and knives. 
As with all war-like people, the smith is an honored 
member of the community. Aside from construct- 
ing craft and fashioning weapons, the Moros show 



108 THE PHILIPPINES. 

little aptitude, or inclination, for mechanical pur- 
suits. There are among them a few artisans who 
work metal into articles of ornament, and a rude 
form of pottery is produced without the use of a 
firing kiln. The women weave a serviceable quality 
of cloth, but they know little about spinning and are 
dependent upon the Chinese for their thread. 

The Moros live in the ordinary Malayan type of 
dwelling, elevated upon piles and often erected near, 
or over, the water. The timbers are fastened with 
rattan, and the roofs and walls covered with palm 
leaves. These houses answer their purpose very 
well. They are cool and waterproof and withstand 
the frequent earthquake shocks. The Moros are not 
clean in their surroundings as are the Filipinos, 
nor do they seem to consider domestic comfort to the 
same extent. They are polygamists, in accordance 
with Kuranic license. Wives are purchased, the 
suitor paying to the family of the bride an amount 
commensurate with his position, or means. Divorce 
may be effected by mutual agreement, or a man, find- 
ing himself unable to support all his wives, may send 
one, or more, back to their families. A w^oman thus 
returning to her home takes all her personal belong- 
ings and whatever she may have received from her 
husband during her wedded life. The family rela- 
tions are closely drawn. Wives receive kindly treat- 
ment and are consulted in family matters. Both 
parents display affection toward their offspring. The 



THE MOROS. 109 

Muhammadan law of abstinence from the use of in- 
toxicants and the flesh of swine is observed, but in 
other respects the Moros are far from being faithful 
disciples of Islam. The habit of chewing betel-nut 
is confirmed amongst men, women, and children. 
This is a favorite indulgence with the Hindus, and 
other Asiatics, and doubtless the Malay immigrants 
to the Philippines brought the custom with them. It 
does not appear to be injurious, but on the contrary 
is said to act as a tonic-digestant and a preservative of 
the teeth. 

The social organization of the Moros is simple. 
There are two main political divisions of the people — 
freemen and slaves. Slavery existed as an institu- 
tion among them prior to their advent to the Philip- 
pines. The communal unit, ranging from perhaps a 
dozen in the case of the Bajaus, to possibly ten thou- 
sand with the larger tribes, is ruled by a chief, vari- 
ously termed sultan, raja, and dato. There is no 
code of laws, but custom and precedent are zealously 
adhered to. The office of dato is generally heredi- 
tary and the authority pertaining to it is always recog- 
nized by the clan. The chief usually associates with 
himself a number of men of noble blood, or wealth, 
who form a sort of court and take an active part in 
the regulation of the community. All datos maintain 
a retinue of fighting-men, who accompany them every- 
where, display being considered quite as important 
as protection. The dato is absolute in authority, 



no THE PHILIPPINES. 

but not often despotic. All land of the community is 
vested in him, but he rarely disturbs established oc- 
cupation. He declares war and makes peace, and 
presides at the administration of justice. A difficulty 
involving two or more villages is usually adjusted 
by their respective headmen, but the decision is sub- 
ject to the vetoes of the chieftains concerned. 

Crimes are generally punished by fine, or sub- 
jection to slavery. An adulterous woman is mulcted 
in a heavy fine, which is paid by herself, or her fam- 
ily, to the injured husband, and is shared by him 
with the dato and headmen composing the court. In 
default of payment the woman is adjudged a slave 
and her husband has the right to sell her. A man 
convicted of adultery is sentenced to a fine twice as 
great as that imposed upon a woman and it is dis- 
posed of in the same manner, whilst the culprit is 
subject to the same alternative in case of failure to 
pay. A husband discovering his wife in the act of 
adultery is justified by custom in killing her and her 
paramour. Incest and carnal assault upon a young 
girl are punishable by death. 

A convicted thief must pay to the victim twice the 
amount of the theft in addition to a fine, which goes 
to the headmen. The alternative penalty is enslave- 
ment, but the culprit may substitute one of his off- 
spring, who is thus consigned to bondage for life, a 
striking illustration of visiting the sins of the fathers 
upon their children. Murder is generally punish- 



A HEAi>HUNTER. 

The portrait is that of Ifugao, an Igorot chieftain 
of Nueva Vizcaya/ one of the few districts in which 
head-hunting is still practised when favorable oppor- 
tunity offers. 




i*- 



THE MOROS. Ill 

able by a heavy fine, subject to the usual division 
with the court. Confinement is hardly ever resorted 
to as a penalty, the Moro considering it an incon- 
venient and uneconomical method of punishment. 

Slavery with the Moros takes a mild form. The 
slave may be a captive from a neighboring tribe, or a 
wild man of the woods, but more often than the lat- 
ter he is of pure Malay blood. Such slaves, and 
those condemned to the condition by the court, as well 
as those held as security for debt, may be bought 
and sold. Very often slavery is merely a temporary 
service in consideration of some benefit received. 

Slaves usually live in the same house w4th their 
master and practically under the same conditions, eat- 
ing at his table and, with the exception of liberty, far- 
ing in all respects as well as himself. They are not 
compelled to onerous labor in a country where no hard 
work is done, and the female slave, in particular, is 
often treated with the greatest consideration. Under 
such circumstances the condition of the bondsman is 
often a great improvement over the life he has been 
accustomed to. 

In general, the Moros are illiterate, superstitious, 
and non-progressive. Some few have learned to read 
and write from their priests, or jMnditas, but learning 
is not esteemed nor encouraged amongst them. They 
use. the Arabic alphabet in the expression of a Malay 
dialect. The Kuran is an object of abstract venera- 
tion. They know very little of its doctrine and are 



112 THE PHILIPPINES. 

only slightly submissive to the influence of the priests. 
I^evertlieless, their religion, such as it is, and their 
jealous regard for their customs will prove a serious 
bar to civilizing them. The Keverend Pio Pi, supe- 
rior of the Jesuit Order in the Philippines, writing 
in 1901, expressed the opinion that the Moros were 
influenced in their opposition to reduction and cul- 
ture by (1) their character; (2) their history, or tra- 
dition; (3) their fanaticism; (4) their interests. 
(Certainly a substantial basis of opposition to sub- 
vert.) The reverend father characterizes them as 
haughty, independent, and domineering, accustomed 
to look upon all other natives wdth disdain. All of 
which is unquestionably true, but when it comes to 
the rest of the arraignment, which is as severe as 
language can make it, some allowance must be had 
for a would-be proselyter dealing with a people equally 
fanatical with his own, and equally convinced of the 
righteousness of their religious belief. 

THE GKOWTH OF POPULATION'. 

The peoples of the Philippines have multiplied 
rapidly during the past hundred years or so. Accord- 
ing to the recent census, the total population of the 
Philippine Archipelago on March 2, 1903, was 7,635,- 
426. Of this number 6,987,686 enjoyed a consider- 
able degree of civilization, while the remainder, 
647,740, consisted of wild people. The civilized peo- 
ple, with the exception of those of foreign birth, 



THE GROWTH OF POPULATION. 113 

were practically all adherents of the (Roman) Catho- 
lic Church, while of the peoples here classified as wild 
a large proportion, probably more than two-fifths, were 
Muhammadans in religion and were well known in 
the islands as Moros. The remaining three-fifths 
belonged to various tribes, differing from one another 
in degrees of barbarism. At the close of the six- 
teenth century the subjection of the islands by the 
Spaniards was almost as complete as at any later time. 
As the conquest extended, the population was par- 
celled out amongst soldiers, and others under a sys- 
tem of encomiendas, which prevailed from the time 
of Legaspi, the first governor, until the beginning of 
the seventeenth century. The system, as practiced in 
the American possessions of Spain, practically em- 
braced slavery, but its extension to the Philippines 
was accompanied by several conditions and restric- 
tions in the interests of the natives, which, however, 
were more or less disregarded. The encomienda was 
a royal grant of a certain portion of the land with its 
native population, and included the right to collect 
from these the trihuto and to enjoy the fruit of their 
labor. Soldiers, as they retired from service, had 
appropriated to them certain communities for their 
special benefit and other villages were reserved for 
the King. Ofiacials and favored civilians became 
grantees in the same manner. The system naturally 
had the effect of extending the settlement of the 
country; indeed, it became the chief factor in that 



114 THE PHILIPPINES. 

movement and eventually the vhole population, aside 
from the wild Xegritos and Igorots, and the uncon- 
querable Moros, was included in encomiendas. Each 
family represented one trihuto and the Spaniards 
reckoned four souls to a family. 

The RelaciSn de Encomiendas^ submitted to the 
King in 1591, reported a total of 166,903 trihutos, 
which would give, in approximate figures, a popula- 
tion of 667,612 for the territory under military con- 
trol. In all probability the total population of the 
islands at that time^ including the country of the 
Muhammadan Malays, did not much exceed 800,000 
During the first two hundred and ^ij years of their 
occupation^ the Spaniards, actuated by a policy of pro- 
tection toward their other colonies and the merchants 
at home trading with them, prohibited all trade of the 
Philippines with foreign countries. Thus not only 
was commercial development checked, but actual ret- 
rogression was effected by the discontinuance of the 
trade wMch had existed before the Spanish conquest. 
Under such conditions large increase of population 
was not to be expected, and we learn from the account 
of Father San Antonio, the Franciscan historian, 
that in 1735 the islands contained but 837,182 souls. 
In 1800 Zuniga estimates the population at 1,561,251. 

In the nineteenth century greatly improved eco- 
nomic conditions, due to the opening of the country to 
the commerce of the world, had a marked effect in 
the multiplication of the people. In 1815 Fray 



THE GROWTH OF POPULATION. 115 

Manuel Buzeta published a notable work entitled a 
^'Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Dictionary 
of the Philippines/' from which the following is ex- 
tracted : 

''We have already seen how, in the last years of 
the past century and the first of this century, the 
political conditions of the Philippines presented in 
twenty-five provinces, 1,522,221 souls and 312,251 
tributes, and according to the state of the population 
published by order of his excellency, the ayuntamiento 
of Manila, this population was increasing, so that in 
1808 the number of souls was 1,741,034; in 1812 
to 1,933,331; in 1815 to 2,052,992; in 1817 to 
2,062,805; in 1818 to 2,106,836. 

"Various data which we have, and for whose exact- 
ness we cannot vouch, give in 1829 2,593,287, and in 
1833 a population of 3,153,290. The Guia de Manila 
of the year 1840 presents the population as 3,209,077 
and compared with the population that w^e have seen 
was reported in 1735, it would appear that the 837,- 
182 souls of the earlier epoch were to those of 1840 
as 1 to 3, a proportion which represents a gain of 283 
per cent, in one hundred and five years. In the five 
years since, the population of the Philippines had 
been increasing at the rate of 1.7 per cent, per year, 
so that in 1845 the number of souls was 3,488,258.'' 

In the fifty-eight years that have elapsed since 
Buzeta's enumeration the population of the islands 
has more than doubled. 'No doubt, had as complete 



116 THE PHILIPPINES. 

a census as that of 1903 been taken in 1897, the 
figures would have shown a larger population than 
at present. Since the latter year the people have been 
subject to the effects of war, destruction of industry, 
loss of cattle and homes, and, perhaps most serious 
of all influences, dreadful visitations of smallpox 
and cholera. Doctor Barrows says that 'Hhe con- 
clusion to be arived at is that the Christian Philippine 
population shows a power of multiplying scarcely 
exceeded by any race of people. The hope of building 
up here in the course of a few generations a people 
equal in numbers and national resources to the Japan- 
ese at the present time, does not seem illusory. Given 
a prolific stock, expanding prosperity and commerce, 
and favorable political conditions, population, as 
proved by a hundred historical instances, can go up 
by leaps and bounds. I believe that all these con- 
ditions together may be realized here in the Philip- 
pines. A great deal depends also upon the mental 
attitude of the people. If it be hopeful, aspiring, 
cheered by increasing gains and opportunities — then 
is there added a factor of the utmost consideration. 
Population has no deadlier enemy than despondency 
and melancholia. There is a deep wisdom in the in- 
tentions of the American Government to meet more 
than half way the eager ambitions of this race." 



EARLY HISTORY. 



III. 

EARLY HISTORY. 

The Discovery of the Philippines — The Inception of Spanish 
Dominion — Tlie Chinese Invasion — Internal Dissensions 
— Growth of the Ecclesiastical Power — Conflict of Church 
and State — The Important Services of the Friars — At- 
tempts to Christianize Japan — Dutch Attacks Upon the 
Colony — Influx of Chinese Traders — The Spaniards Come 
into Contact With the Moros — The British Take Manila 
— Uprisings of the Natives. 

At the beginning of tlie sixteenth century the two 
great maritime powers, Spain and Portugal, were 
at the height of their rivalry and in the midst of their 
extensive discoveries. In the hope of settling the 
frequent disputes as to their respective trading rights 
Pope Alexander the Sixth had issued a papal bull, in 
1494, dividing the world into two hemispheres, prac- 
tically the same as those recognized to-day, and giving 
to the Spaniards all heathen lands in the western half 
and to the Portuguese all those in the eastern. 

The path of Portuguese exploration had been east- 
ward, and they had reached Asia by way of the Cape 
of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean. Following 
the discovery of America the eyes of all the world's 
geographers and navigators were turned toward the 
west. When Balboa sighted the Pacific a fresh in- 
centive was given to adventure, and ardent spirits of 

(119) 



120 THE PHILIPPINES. 

both nations became eager to follow the course of 
the setting sun until they should reach the vast ocean 
which lay beyond the American continent. Chance 
favored the Spaniards, and strangely enough they 
owed their success in this instance to a Portuguese 
as they had formerly OAved it to a native of Genoa. 
In truth, the Spanish discoveries were mainly due 
to religious zeal and greed for gold. Their native 
sailors were seldom actuated by sheer love of ad- 
venture, as were many of the English sea captains of 
the same age, or by a desire for scientific investiga- 
tion, such as moved Magellan and Columbus. 

THE DISCOVEEY OF THE PHILIPPINES. 

Hernando de Maghallanes was a Portuguese noble, 
a practical mathematician and navigator, and a man 
of extraordinary parts. As a soldier and a sailor he 
had distinguished himself in a wide field. He served 
under the famous Albuquerque in his expedition to 
Asia, and took part in the siege of Malacca. Later he 
accompanied the expedition to the Moluccas, which 
discovered Ternate and other islands. On this oc- 
casion he gained information which confirmed his 
belief that a passage existed between the two great 
oceans of the globe, and he returned to Europe pos- 
sessed with a detennination to seek it. Whilst pur- 
suing investigations tending toward the execution of 
his project, Magellan, to give him the familiar form 
of his name, was ordered to the wars in Africa, 



DISCOVERY OF THE PHILIPPINES. 121 

where he received a wound which rendered him lame 
for life. Upon his return he fell a victim to one 
of the court intrigues so common at the time. Jeal- 
ous of his achievements and favor with the Kins:, 
certain nobles made false accusations against him, 
which gained the credence of King Emmanuel. Dis- 
gusted at the perfidy of his companions in arms 
and the ingratitude of his royal master, Magellan re- 
nounced his nationality and offered his sendees to the 
Spanish monarch. He was graciously received by 
King Charles the First and immediately became a 
naturalized Spaniard. Magellan was eager to essay 
the discovery of a western passage to the Orient, and 
the King of Spain readily granted the necessary per- 
mission, notwithstanding numerous attempts in the 
same direction had failed. An agreement was signed, 
by the terms of which the King undertook to defray 
the expense of fitting out five ships with their comple- 
ment of men-at-arms and sailors. Magellan on his 
part agreed to devote his energies to the discovery of 
spice islands within the limits of the papal grant. 

On the 10th of August, 1519, the fleet sailed out of 
the harbor of San Lucar de Barrameda. On the 13th 
of December they reached Rio Janeiro and continued 
their voyage along the coast in search of the passage 
to the Pacific. Soon the hardships incident to such 
an undertaking began to breed discontent among the 
men and dissensions arose between the captains. Two 
of the latter broke into open mutiny. They were put 



122 THE PHILIPPINES. 

to death by the orders of the commander, and dis- 
cipline was restored. On the 2Gth of November, 

1520, the expedition had rounded Cape Horn and 
found itself in the Pacific Ocean. The fleet, now 
reduced to three sails, shipAvreck and desertion ac- 
counting for the others, cheerfully headed across the 
broad expanse of ocean and, on the 16th of March, 

1521, arrived at the island of Limasagua, just off 
the south end of Leyte. Magellan continued to 
Cebu, where he made a treaty with the Chief, and 
ratified it by the ancient Blood Compact of the Ma- 
lays. A few days afterwards Magellan accompanied 
a war expedition of his new ally to the Island of Mac- 
tan and in the affray that followed he was wounded, 
probably by a poisoned arrow, and died on the 27th 
of April, 1521. Thus ended, in a petty skirmish 
with savages, one of the most brilliant lives of the 
age. 

On the 6th of September, 1622, Juan Sebastian 
Elcano, in command of the ''Victoria," representing 
all that remained of Magellan's expedition, cast 
anchor in the port from which he had started three 
years before. In returning from the Philippines, El- 
cano had reached Spain by way of the Cape of Good 
Hope, thus circumnavigating the earth for the first 
time. In token of the achievement his family arms, 
created by royal patent, consist of a globe with the 
motto: Primus circundedit me. Two more expedi- 
tions went to the East in search of spice islands dur- 



INCEPTION OF SPANISH DOMINION. 123 

ing tlie reign of King Charles, but they accomplished 
little beyond increasing the rancour of the Portu- 
guese, who complained, not without cause, that the 
Spaniards were encroaching upon their territory. 
King Philip of Spain w^as a man of strong religious 
convictions and proselyting tendencies. He became 
possessed of an ambition to subdue and Christianize 
the Philippines and ordered an expedition to be pre- 
pared in Mexico with that object. In accordance with 
the royal instructions the Governor of Mexico fitted 
up five ships and manned them Avith four hundred 
soldiers and sailors. The command of the expedition 
was given to Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, a Spaniard 
of noble birth and a man of wide experience, and to 
him was delegated the task of representing the King 
in such territory as might be occupied by the force. 
Under Legaspi, but with a certain degree of inde- 
pendence in his particular field, was Andres de LFr- 
daneta, an Austin priest, and five friars of his order. 
To these missionaries was committed the spiritual 
care of all heathens Avho might be brought into sub- 
jection by the expedition. This division of authority 
foreshadowed the never-ending conflict between the 
civil and clerical functionaries in the Philippines dur- 
ing the Spanish regime. 

THE INCEPTIOISr OF SPANISH DOMINION. 

The expedition left ISTavidad in Mexico on the 21st 
of I^ovember, 1564, and in the following year, on the 



124 THE PHILIPPINES. 

27th of April, the anniversary of Magellan's death, 
landed at Cebu. This, and some of the neighboring 
islands, were subdued and pacified with comparative 
ease by the handful of Spaniards. 

In 1570, Legaspi, having received reinforcements, 
despatched his grandson, Juan Salcedo, to the Island 
of Luzon, which had not up to this time been invaded 
by the Spaniards. Salcedo probably landed at some 
point in the Bay of Manila without opposition. He 
was well received by the local chiefs, Raja Lakan 
Dola of Tondo, and his nephew, the Eaja Soliman 
of Maynila, as it was then called. These chieftains 
appear to have surrendered their independence with- 
out resistance and a treaty was entered into with 
them. Salcedo then proceeded to the district of 
Lake Bombon, one of the most populous in the island, 
reducing the tribes in his path. He subdued the 
province of Batangas and returned to Manila. 

The ease with which a few hundred Spaniards were 
able to conquer these islands may excite surprise, 
but a sufficient explanation is to be found in the 
fact that the natives had no political organization 
more extensive than that of the ancient clans of Scot- 
land and no confederation at all resembling, for in- 
stance, that of the Maharatas in Hindustan, or that 
of the ^orth American Indians. The greatest num- 
ber of fighting men any one chief could oppose to the 
invaders was probably less than one thousand, and the 
idea of combining for mutual defense does not seem 



INCEPTION OF SPANISH DOMINION. 125 

to have been entertained. Indeed, the Spaniards 
never experienced any serious opposition, or hard 
fighting, in their acquisition, or possession, of the 
Philippines, unless it was in contests with foreign 
enemies, until the Tagalog Rebellion of 1896. Learn- 
ing of the success of his forces in Luzon^ Legaspi 
repaired to the island and declared Manila the capital 
of the Colony. A fort commanding the Pasig was 
constructed, a church was built, and houses erected 
for the Spaniards. 

In August, 1571, Legaspi, the first Governor-Gen- 
eral of the Philippines, died and was succeeded by 
Guide de Lavezares. Legaspi's life had been a very 
useful one to his country, and the speedy pacification 
of the Philippines was doubtless due in great measure 
to his wisdom and humanity. 

The process of subjugating Luzon proceeded rap- 
idly under Salcedo and Martin de Goiti, the Maestre 
de Campo. On more than one occasion they were ac- 
companied in their expeditions by the Rajas of Tondo 
and Manila with their armed followers. As a rule, 
conquered territory was left in the hands of the native 
caciques to govern in the name of the King of Spain. 
The Xegritos invariably refused submission, simply 
retiring into the mountain fastnesses before the in- 
vaders and retaining the independence which they 
have to-dav. 

Shortly after Legaspi's occupation of Cebu the Por- 
tuguese made a weak effort to wrest the possession 



126 THE PHILIPPINES. 

from liim, but from that time the Spaniards were 
not disturbed by foreign interference nntil 1574, 
when a formidable invasion by Chinese occurred. 

THE CHIInTESE INVASION. 

Li Ma Hung was the commander of a powerful 
band of corsairs who had for years infested the China 
Sea and plundered the coast towns of the Empire. 
From Chinese traders he learned of the easy conquest 
of Luzon by a few hundred white men and conceived 
the idea of displacing them himself. In November, 
1574, Li Ma Hung appeared in the Bay of Manila 
with a fleet of sixty well-equipped war junks, having 
on board four thousand fighting men and sailors. A 
portion of this force was landed after several of the 
vessels had been destroyed by a gale. The Spaniards 
appear to have been surprised, and it was not until 
the Chinese were within the confines of the city that 
any resistance was offered to them. The defenders 
took refuge in the fort, which would probably have 
been carried by assault but for the opportune arrival 
of a small body of fresh troops before whom the Chi- 
nese fled under the impression that they were the van- 
guard of an army. Two days later the Chinese re- 
newed the attack, but in the meanwhile Salcedo had 
arrived at Manila with reinforcements and the charge 
of the defense was committed to him. 

The Chinese landed fifteen hundred picked men, 
who proceeded to burn the city before storming the 



Chinese Mestizos. 

The Chinese quarter in Binondo, showing the manner 
in which bamboo is floated to market on the canal. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood tt T'nderwood. New Yr^'k 



THE CHINESE INVASION. 127 

fort. The latter was no more than a stockade 
strengthened with a few cnlverins. The Chinese as- 
saulted furiously under cover of a shower of hand 
grenades and at length broke into the enclosure. 
Here the most desperate hand-to-hand fighting oc- 
curred with the result in the balance for a time. 
Eventually the Chinese were repulsed with great 
slaughter. Salcedo followed them up in their retreat 
and inflicted heavy loss upon them. 

Li Ma Hung now abandoned the attempt to take 
Manila, but determined to make a settlement else- 
where. He sailed northward along the coast till he 
arrived at the mouth of the Agno, up which for a 
short distance he took his vessel and debarked. The 
natives offered no opposition, and the Chinese, ex- 
pecting to be left in peace by the Spaniards, erected 
houses and a pagoda. 

For some months the invaders were undisturbed, 
but at length Salcedo, having collected a force of 
two hundred and fifty Spanish men-at-arms and six- 
teen hundred w^ell-armed natives, with artillery, came 
upon the Chinese settlement and laid siege to it. For 
some time Li Ma Hung held out, but realizing the 
hopelessness of his situation, took advantage of an op- 
portunity to slip out of the river with his fleet. This 
manoeuvre necessitated his leaving the major part of 
his • troops behind, and these, having no further in- 
centive for fight, fled to the mountains. It is gener- 
ally believed that from these refugees are descended 



128 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in large part the numerous Chino-Igorots of the prov- 
ince of Pangasinan. 

IITTERNAL DISSENSIONS. 

Almost with the inception of the orderly adminis- 
tration of the colony began the internal dissensions 
which have always characterized the Spanish rule of 
the Philippines. The Governor-General, the Supreme 
Court, and the religious Orders, perpetually con- 
tended with one another and the last among them- 
selves. Questions of respective authority were con- 
stantly in dispute between the civil and ecclesiastical 
officers, often culminating in disgraceful scenes and 
acts. The jealous antagonism of the friars of one 
Order toward those of another retarded the work of all 
and, what was worse, not infrequently destroyed their 
influence with the natives. Add to this the vacillat- 
ing and ill-advised policy of the Spanish Government 
with regard to the Philippines and it would be diffi- 
cult to imagine a condition of affairs less conducive 
to the generation and growth of political and com- 
mercial prosperity in a newly-acquired country. 

The Spanish colony of Mexico was governed by an 
excellent code of laws, termed the Leyes de Indias. 
These were applied to the Philippine Islands, and had 
they been observed, conditions must have been very 
different. The entire system of justice was cumber- 
some and ill-adapted to the conditions, and, indeed, 
it remained so to the last. Corruption entered into 



ECX^LESIASTICAL POWER. 129 

every branch of the government from an early date, 
and, although the home authorities devised measures 
to prevent the exploitation of the islands by adven- 
turers, they were frequently avoided and little check 
was placed upon the dishonesty of officials. These 
were not the shortcomings and failures of a govern- 
ment contending with the difficulties of an experi- 
mental problem, but the natural results of the system 
which obtained during the entire tenure of the islands 
by Spain. 

Civilians and missionaries consulted their own in- 
terests regardless of the rights of the natives, or of 
the prohibitions of law and royal writs. The Spanish 
alcaldes and encomendei'os maltreated the natives at 
their pleasure and extorted from them the fruits of 
their labor. 

Slavery was practiced by all classes of Spaniards, 
and a royal decree prohibiting it was opposed by the 
governor. These and other abuses led to frequent 
uprisings, so that twenty years after the death of 
Legaspi the islands were in a less pacific state than 
that in which he left them. 

GROWTH OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL POWER. 

Perhaps the chief weakness in the Spanish rule 
of the Philippines lay in the undue deference and 
consideration paid to the friars and their interests by 
the Spanish Government. Valuable concessions were 
constantly made to them; their power in the islands 

9 



130 THE PHILIPPINES. 

was ever on the increase and always had the support 
of the national government; they were permitted to 
interfere with increasing influence in state affairs 
nntil the tenure of office of Governors-General and 
other officials depended upon their good-will; their 
grievances met with ready redress at Madrid, and 
complaints against them seldom received considera- 
tion. 

Members of the Augustin Order, who came with 
Legaspi's expedition, were the first friars in the 
Philippines, and they strove hard to prevent the in- 
coming of other Orders. However, the Franciscans, 
Jesuits, Dominicans^ and, last of all, the Eecoletos 
succeeded, with more or less difficulty, in entering 
the country, each Order in turn being opposed by the 
members of others which already had representation 
in the islands. It was sought to minimize their dis- 
sensions by dividing the territory between them, but 
quarrels were nevertheless frequent. 

The friars were vowed to poverty and to monastic 
life. From the latter condition the Pope exempted 
them of necessity, but only temporarily, and until 
secular clergy could be provided to take their places 
in the native communities. They invariably arrived 
poor, and the allowance for their maintenance was 
no more than sufficient to keep them in ordinary com- 
fort, but the Orders became the recipients of dona- 
tions from devotees and received large bequests, so 
that in a short while they had become rich landed 



ECCLESIASTICAL POWER. 131 

proprietors. In 1601, the wealth of the friars hav- 
ing become notorions, the King commissioned the 
Auditor to make a report on their property. The 
friars, however, refused to give the Auditor any in- 
formation, and the Archbishop threatened to excom- 
municate him unless he ceased the investigation. As 
usual with all movements that had the disapproval of 
the ecclesiastics, the matter was dropped. 

In 1653 the friars successfully combatted the order 
of the Pope to subject them to the authority of the 
bishops. They maintained that they were amenable 
to no control except by the superiors of their respec- 
tive Orders. The point was never settled, and was 
the cause of numerous disputes and much litigation. 
The differences between the various Orders seldom 
prevented them from opposing a solid front to any- 
thing looking like an invasion of their general inter- 
ests. 

Royal decrees were heeded as little as the mandates 
of the local authorities. In response to repeated 
complaints the King ordered the friars to cease from 
persuading dying men to will their property to the 
clergy ; from obliging women to enter domestic ser- 
vice in their houses under the pretext of learning 
Christian doctrine ; from charging the natives fees 
for the administration of the sacrament; and from 
other well-known abuses. ^Reither then nor at any 
later time was there a perceptible decrease in these 
practices. 



132 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The constant conflicts between the representatives 
of Church and State were a perpetual impediment to 
the administration of government, and, indeed, at 
times plunged it into a condition bordering upon an- 
archy. It was impossible for a viceroy to perform 
his duties fearlessly and impartially. He might never 
depend upon loyalty and obedience in the people, or 
subordinate officials, when the clerical influence was 
liable to be exerted against him at any time. So 
jealous were the ecclesiastics of what they considered 
to be their prerogatives that differences between them 
and the civil power often arose from the most trivial 
circumstances and sometimes involved the most seri- 
ous consequences. 

CONFLICT OF CHURCH AND STATE. 

Toward the middle of the seventeenth century a 
Spaniard in Manila murdered a female slave and 
afterwards sought sanctuary in a convent. The Gov- 
ernor, Hurtado de Corcuera, caused him to be dragged 
from his asylum and publicly executed. This w^as 
the occasion for a violent dispute between the Gov- 
ernor and Archbishop. The latter closed all the 
churches of the city, doubtless with a view to enlisting 
the sympathy of the populace upon his side. In this 
instance the Jesuits upheld the Governor and were 
forbidden by the Archbishop to preach in any public 
place under pain of fine and excommunication. 
Finally a strong coalition of clerics was formed 



CONFLICT OF CHURCH AND STATE. 133 

against the prelate. He was excommunicated; his 
property was seized, and his office suspended. He 
appealed to the Supreme Court, but the answer of 
that body was to impose an additional fine upon him. 
Eventually he made total submission and issued an 
official decree admitting his guilt and expressing re- 
pentance. 

Soon afterwards the Archbishop, smarting under 
his recent humiliation, seized another opportunity to 
oppose the civil authority. The Supreme Court, in- 
stigated by the Governor, resolved to oust him from 
his See and banish him from the city. In pursuit 
of this determination a body of soldiers was sent 
to arrest him. The Archbishop awaited the troops 
in the Cathedral, holding the Host aloft in his hands. 
The soldiers doggedly remained until the prelate w^as 
forced by fatigue to replace the sacred object upon 
the altar, when they seized him and carried him to the 
uninhabited island of Corregidor, in Manila Bay. 
Again the Archbishop made an unconditional sur- 
render and was permitted to resume his office. 

On account of his part in these events Governor 
Corcuera was imprisoned for five years by his succes- 
sor, but upon his release and return to Spain the King 
rewarded his services with the appointment of Gov- 
ernor of the Canaries. Such uncertainty as to the 
consequences of his proceedings was sufficient to 
paralyze the actions of any executive officer. 

Governor-General Diego Salcedo, during his entire 



134 THE PHILIPPINES. 

term of office (1663-1668), contested the interference 
of the then Archbishop (Poblete) in civil affairs. The 
persistent refusal of the Archbishop to comply with 
certain royal decrees relating to Church appointments 
led the Governor to expel him from Manila. lie 
was allowed to return upon promise of good be- 
havior, but the friction between the functionaries 
continued until the death of Poblete. The Governor 
exhibited his joy at this event by ordering a festival 
in celebration of it. This indiscretion brought the 
full power of the Church, with the approval of the 
King, against the ill-fated Governor. He was seized 
by order of the Inquisition and cast into a dungeon, 
where he suffered extreme privation for years. He 
died on board ship a prisoner consigned to the tender 
mercies of the 8an Oficio in Mexico. 

The successor, like the predecessor, of Salcedo 
contrived to preserve peace with the representatives 
of the Church by the simple, if unsatisfactory, 
method of allowing them to have their own way in 
all matters, whether or not they came properly within 
the province of the Church. 

With the assumption of office by Juan de Vargas in 
1678 the old troubles broke out afresh, and culminated 
in the banishment of the Archbishop. Upon the ex- 
piration of the Governor's term the cleric sought to 
inflict a public penance upon the former in expiation 
of his offense, but N^argas was protected by his suc- 
cessor in office, Fernando de Bustamente, from the 
vengeance of the Archbishop. 



CONFLICT OF CHURCH AND STATE. 135 

Governor-General Bustamente, having discovered 
serious irregularities in the management of the royal 
treasury, determined to institute reforms in the col- 
lection and disposition of public moneys. It was 
a righteous, but extremely daring, step to take when 
every branch of the government was seamed with cor- 
ruption. A conspiracy was set on foot which in- 
cluded high civilian officials and of course was sup- 
ported by the ecclesiastics, who had other grievances 
against the Executive. The Archbishop attempted the 
arrest of a judge of the Supreme Court, who in turn 
issued warrants against the Prelate and his follow- 
ers and the former was imprisoned. A riot ensued, 
in which it is said the friars sought to enlist the 
Chinese residents. Priests of each of the Orders, 
except that of Jesus, led the mob in an attack upon 
the palace of the Governor. The guards lowered their 
arms before the upraised crucifixes of the friars, 
who headed the rioters. The Governor boldly faced 
the mob with a gun, but it missed fire and he was 
cut do^m. Dying and in agony he w^as dragged to 
jail, where nothing in alleviation of his suffering was 
permitted, even water being denied him. He died in 
the evening of the same day. 

Meanwhile Bustamente's son, who had come to his 
father's assistance, was shot and thrown into the 
stable of the palace, where he lay for hours without 
any kind of relief until he expired. ]^o one was 
ever punished for the murders and other crimes com- 



136 THE PHILIPPINES. 

mitted on this occasion. Indeed, the chief instigator 
of the affair, the Archbishop, assumed the head of 
the Government upon the death of Fernando de Bus- 
tamente and was permitted to retain the position for 
nine years, after which he was promoted to a See 
in Mexico. 

The strife between Church and State continued, 
with only brief intervals of peace, during the terms 
of succeeding Governors, three of whom are said to 
have died in consequence of the grief and shame 
brought upon them in these conflicts. 

UNWISE MEASURES KESPONSIBLE. 

As between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities 
it is extremely difficult to apportion blame fairly. 
The data at the command of the student of Philippine 
history is never wholly reliable nor impartial, but 
the records and chronicles of the time clearly estab- 
lish the fact that Spaniards of all classes, laymen and 
clergy, fell woefully short of the performance of their 
complete duty. But the chief and fundamental fac- 
tor in the maladministration of the colony was the 
system of government that was applied to it. There 
can be no doubt about the good intentions and hu- 
manitarian motives of the legislators in Madrid, but 
the measures adopted for the execution of their de- 
signs were frequently characterized by the utmost 
unwisdom. 



SERVICES OF THE FRIARS. 137 

The condemnation of the friars should be tempered 
by a recognition of their inestimable services. 

THE IMPOETANT SERVICES OF THE FRIARS. 

What noticeable degree of progress has been at- 
tained in the islands is mainly dne to them, and v^^ith- 
out them Avonld not have been achieved. That they 
labored hard and effectively for the conversion and 
civilization of the natives is indisputable; that they 
w^ere moved by a sincere, if sometimes misapplied, 
zeal for the promotion of religion must be admitted ; 
and that they displayed wonderful devotion and cour- 
age in the pursuit of what they considered their re- 
ligious duties cannot be questioned. The story of the 
padre of Taal is touching testimony to the bravery 
and self-abnegation which was characteristic of most 
of his fellows. When we turn with natural disgust 
from the picture of priests leading a mob of howling 
rioters in Manila, it were well to cast back a century 
in the history of Philippine evangelization and look 
upon the fervent friar penetrating the wilderness 
upon his solitary mission with crucifix and missal 
in hand ; braving a thousand unfamiliar dangers, 
reckless of his life, cheerfully inhabiting a shack 
amongst savages, with no thought but for their wel- 
fare. We can forgive the pampered priest of later 
days much for the sake of the memory of his pioneer 
prototype. 

It must not be supposed that, although the priests 



138 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in the capital and the richer parishes lived luxuri- 
ously, the lot of the average friar was one of ease. 
On the contrary, the life of the majority was devoid 
of pleasure, or even comforts. For years, more or 
less, according to the ability he displaj^ed, the mis- 
sionary, after coming into the field, was obliged to 
live under conditions scarcely differing from those 
of the natives under his charge. His allowance was 
barely sufficient to supply the demands of decency. 
He was cut off from civilization, often not seeing a 
w^hite man for weeks and months at a stretch. The 
climate and diet w^ere not the greatest of his trials in 
an entirely strange environment, and it is greatly to 
the credit of the class that there was never a lack 
of ready and eager volunteers with a full understand- 
ing of what was before them. 

The friars never deserted their flocks in time of 
danger: on the contrary, they have always been fore- 
most in relief and encouragement. More than one 
priest has fallen to the fire of an invading enemy, 
and in time of stress the friar's frock has ever been 
found to the front. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, 
and epidemics have always found them steadfast at 
their posts. [N^umerous charitable and educational 
institutions owe their being to the Orders, and cer- 
tain of their members have made notable contributions 
to the cause of science. 

The friars frequently protected the natives against 
the severities of the encomenderos and the civil power. 



SERVICES OF THE FRIARS. 139 

In the earlier days they were generally on the most 
amicable terms with their parishioners, and their in- 
flnence with the natives was the chief factor in en- 
abling the Spaniards to hold the country without 
the aid of a commanding force. 

Some writers expatiate unnecessarily upon the im- 
morality of the priests, which they pretend to have 
been almost universal. There is no doubt that the 
charge is justified in the cases of several, but the 
sweeping indictment of the class is neither supported 
by evidence nor probability. Those who, like Fore- 
man and Younghusband, are familiar with life in the 
tropics, might be expected to make allowance for the 
frailties of a comparatively small number of the only 
body of voluntary celibates east of Suez. 

The power of the friars for good was rapidly wan- 
ing before the Spanish-American War put an end to 
their control. With the growing enlightenment of the 
natives and the spread of education among them, the 
influence of the priests, which had always owed much 
of its force to superstitious ignorance, began to fail. 
Political and religious unity had formed a basis for 
a national spirit, such as had never existed before, 
and which now began to exhibit itself in sundry mani- 
festations of a desire for independence. There was 
no place for the old-time friar in the new order of 
things. He had become an anachronism. Even 
though he had been willing, he was quite unable to 
adapt himself to the changed conditions. The very 



u 



140 THE PHILIPPINES. 

forces that operated against him were of his own cre- 
ation. 

The fanaticism of the friars often led them into 
serious errors of judgment, but no matter how severely 
we may condemn the resultant acts, w^e must admire 
the splendid courage displayed in the prosecution of 
their convictions, which finds a striking illustration 
in the story of the attempted conversion of Japan. 

ATTEMPTS TO CHRISTIANIZE JAPAIS'. 

At the close of the sixteenth century the Emperor 
of Japan, w^hose people had for long maintained 
trade relations with Luzon, sent an ambassador to 
Manila. He was well received and the Governor- 
General in turn despatched an embassy to Japan, 
where a commercial treaty was effected and the 
Spanish representatives set sail for the Philippines, 
accompanied by a party of Japanese nobles and mer- 
chants, but the ship with all hands went down upon 
the way. A second expedition w^as despatched, and 
on this occasion the purpose of proselyting was dis- 
tinctly provided for. Fray Pedro Bautista was ap- 
pointed ambassador, and his suite included three other 
priests. A new treaty of commerce was entered into 
and Bautista secured permission for himself and his 
fellow priests to remain indefinitely in Japan and to 
build a church near Osaka. 

A Portuguese settlement of traders had been es- 
tablished for many years at ^N'agasaki, wdiere they had 



ATTEMPTS TO CHRISTIANIZE JAPAN. 141 

a Jesuit Mission, whose priests had apparently con- 
ducted their affairs and effected their conversions with 
the tactful diplomacy characteristic of the members 
of the Order of Jesus, for they seem to have had no 
friction with the Japanese authorities. Bautista and 
his companions did not observe the same prudence in 
their actions, and soon incurred the displeasure of the 
Emperor on account of their too open and zealous 
proselyting. An order of expulsion was issued 
against them, but, although their leader set sail for 
Manila, the other three Franciscans remained. One 
of them was thrown into prison and his colleagues be- 
came refugees. Fray Bautista's return to the Philip- 
pines did not betoken abandonment of the project 
by any means. In fact, his purpose was solely to 
secure reinforcements, and he soon landed in Japan 
again with a number of friars. This proceeding, in 
the face of his prohibition, seriously angered the Em- 
peror, who ordered the arrest of all the Franciscan 
priests and their native followers. Twenty-six of 
these, including Pedro Bautista, were put to an 
ignominious death. After their ears and noses had 
been cut off they were paraded about the country and 
finally crucified at Nagasaki. Meanwhile no restric- 
tions were put upon the priests of the Portuguese 
settlement. 

The horrible end of the Franciscan missionaries, 
far from deterring their brethren from similar ef- 
forts, seems to have created a zealous enthusiasm. 



142 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Xumbers of priests in the guise of traders succeeded 
in landing in Japan, and for twenty years or more 
the influx continued, despite that they were killed 
w^henever discovered. At length the Emperor was 
forced to issue an edict imposing the penalty of death 
upon all who might carry priests to the country and 
the forfeiture of any ship in which a priest had 
come. This led the owners of vessels to decline to 
convey missionaries to Japan, and the Archbishop and 
Governor added their prohibition. 

I^ot deterred by these difliculties the heads of 
the Orders bought a vessel and paid a large premium 
to the crew to carry a number of friars and smuggle 
them into Japan. Ten priests were thus landed and 
shortly afterwards met death at the stake. 

Following this disaster $10,000 was subscribed 
in Manila for the purpose of shipping another party 
of would-be martyrs to Japan. On this occasion 
thirty-six priests, a greater number than had ever 
sailed at one time before, embarked, but the vessel 
was wrecked upon the coast of Ilocos. 

A large junk was next prepared at a distance from 
Manila for the same purpose, but before it could sail 
the Governor interfered and from that time strictly 
interposed his power and authority against further 
missionary enterprise in the same direction. Thus 
after forty years' endeavor the Philippine friars aban- 
doned the project of Christianizing Japan only when 
it was physically impossible to proceed with it. 



DUTCH ATTACKS UPON THE COLONY. 143 

DUTCH ATTACKS UPON THE COLONY. 

During the sixteenth and the first half of the fol- 
lowing century Spain and Holland were bitter ene- 
mies, and their fleets were constantly in collision. 
Dutch privateers infested the waters about the eastern 
possessions of Spain. They lay in wait for the Span- 
ish treasure galleons from Mexico, and occasionally 
secured a rich prize. On the other hand, the Span- 
iards in the Philippines from time to time fitted out 
expeditions to attack the Dutch settlements in the 
Moluccas. * 

During the Governorship of Juan de Silva (1609- 
1616) a Dutch squadron anchored off the entrance to 
Manila Bay. It happened that owing to recent losses 
by shipwreck and the absence of several vessels the 
naval forces of the Philippines were unusually weak 
and in no condition to withstand the enemy. The 
Dutchmen lay in the path of Chinese and Japanese 
traders and secured an immense booty. In this oc- 
cupation several months passed and meanwhile the 
Spaniards Avere enabled to prepare an armament. 
The Governor took advantage of the superstitious fail- 
ings of the age to pretend a dream in which Saint 
Mark had appeared to him and promised aid against 
the enemy. For several days previous to the battle 
holy images and relics Avere exposed to public view 
and carried in procession through the city. The 
clergy exhorted the populace and did much to dispel 
the prevailing dread. 



144 THE PHILIPPINES 

De Silva had determined to risk everything upoTi 
the impending fight, and in the event of a decisive 
victory by the Dutch, Manila must have fallen into 
their hands. The Governor took the command in 
person and embarked all the available Spaniards, to 
the number of one thousand, together with a large 
force of natives, upon the eight ships A\^ich formed 
the line of battle. 

The Battle of Playa Hondo was fought on Saint 
Mark's day. After a fierce fight^ that lasted for six 
hours, the Dutch were completely defeated, three of 
their ships were destroyed, and merchandise to the 
value of $300,000 was captured. 

In 1626 the Spaniards from the Philippines made 
a settlement upon the island of Formosa, but it was 
neglected, and in 1642 fell into the hands of the 
Dutch, who held it until they were driven out by 
the Chinese about twenty years later. 

Iiq^FLUX OF CHII^ESE TEADEKS. 

With a view to the development of the commerce 
of the islands Legaspi encouraged the Chinese traders 
and passed protective measures for their benefit. Pre- 
vious to this the dealings of Chinese traders had 
been conducted on board their junks, and even that 
precaution did not save them from being occasionally 
boarded and pillaged by the natives. In time the 
Chinese gained sufficient confidence to come ashore 
with their wares, and before the close of the sixteenth 



INFLUX OF CHINESE TRADERS, 145 

century they were paying rent for the land they oc- 
cupied. 

As the numbers of Chinese merchants in Manila 
grew, the Government provided them with a large 
building, which w^as called the Alcayceria. This was 
a large square of shops with a dwelling room above 
each. It was opened in 1580 in the section of Bi- 
nondo. Later on, when the Chinese had outgrown 
the Alcayceria, another and much larger center was 
provided for them. This was the celebrated Parian, 
or market place, which was demolished by order of 
the Government in 1860. 

In the middle of the sixteenth century the Span- 
iards w^re alarmed by the threatened invasion of the 
Chinese who had wrested Formosa from the Dutch 
settlers. The apprehension of the residents of Manila 
was increased by the presence in their midst of a large 
body of Mongols with whom no ties had been formed. 
With a view to disposing of this internal danger be- 
fore the arrival of the expected enemy, the Chinese 
traders of the Parian were incited to an act of vio- 
lence. This was made the pretext for turning artil- 
lery upon the quarter. A great number, probably 
thousands, of the Mongols were killed in the assault 
that followed. In the opinion of Juan de la Con- 
cepcion it had been the original intention of the 
Spaniards to slaughter all the Chinese, who numbered 
about ten thousand, but they were restrained by the 
thought of the loss to themselves that would inevitably 

10 



146 THE PHILIPPINES. 

ensue, for, as the historian says, ''without the trade 
and commerce of the Chinese these dominions could 
not have subsisted."* In addition to the foreign trade 
which was conducted by them, almost all the mechan- 
ical industries of Manila were in the hands of the 
Chinese. 

In 1603 a serious uprising of the Chinese oc- 
curred. It seems impossible to learn the true cause 
that led to this appalling affair, but it would appear 
that the rapid growth of the Mongol colony had ex- 
cited the apprehensions of the Spaniards with whom 
the fear of a Chinese invasion was a periodical night- 
mare from the time of Li Ma Hung's incursion. On 
this occasion a crisis was reached when two mandarins 
arrived in the Philippines as ambassadors from the 
Emperor of China. After their departure prepara- 
tions for defense were pushed with feverish haste. 
Troops were drilled, arms and artillery were over- 
hauled, and the natives were ordered to carry their 
weapons constantly. The Chinese in Manila looked 
upon these preparations as a menace to themselves, 
as no doubt they were, and proceeded to raise for- 
tifications outside the city. Finally the frightened 
Chinese began hostilities by burning houses in the 
suburbs and threatening the city. Of a picked body 
of one hundred Spanish troops led by an ex-governor- 



*Historia General de Philipinas. Juan de la Concepeion. 
14 Vols. Manila, 1788. De la Concepeion estimates the number 
of Chinese in the Philippines in 1638 at 33,000. 



INFLUX OF CHINESE TRADERS. 147 

general, which was sent against them, hardly one 
escaped with his life. Elated by this victory, the 
Chinese proceeded to lay siege to the city, and a long 
struggle ensued, in which they were finally repulsed 
and fled. They w^ere pursued for miles, and utterly 
scattered. It is said that upwards of eighteen thou- 
sand Chinese were slain in this uprising. In 1639, 
and again in 1660, similar outbreaks occurred, and 
were only quelled after thousands of the Orientals 
had lost their lives. 

In 1755 it was resolved to expel and to ex- 
clude all non-Christian Chinese. Before the date 
of its execution this decree was evaded by a large 
number, who became baptized, or signified their inten- 
tion to do so. The order of expulsion was enforced 
against upwards of two thousand residents, and for 
a time newcomers were rigidly excluded. 

In 1763 the Chinese joined the British invaders, 
and as a consequence great numbers of them were 
killed in the provinces where the Spaniards retained 
control of the country. 

Foreman-^ says : ''Except a few Europeans and a 
score of Western Asiatics, the Chinese who remained 
were the only merchants in the Archipelago. The 
natives had neither knowledge, tact, energy, nor de- 
sire to compete with them. They cannot at this day 
do so successfully, and the Chinese may be considered 

*The Philippine Islands. John Foreman, F. R. G. S New 
York, 1899. 



148 THE PHILIPPINES. 

a boon to the colony, for without them, living would be 
much dearer, commodities and labor of all kinds more 
scarce, and the export and import trade much em- 
barrassed. The Chinese are really the people who 
gave to the natives their first notions of trade, indus- 
try, and fruitful work. They taught them, amongst 
many other useful things, the extraction of saccharine 
juice from sugar-cane and the working of wrought 
iron. They introduced into the colony the first 
sugar-mills with vertical stone crushers and iron 
boiling-pans." 

The history of the last hundred and fifty years 
shoAvs that the Chinese, although tolerated, were al- 
ways regarded by the Spanish colonists as an imwel- 
come race, and the natives have learned from example 
to despise them. From time to time, especially since 
the year 1763, the feeling against them has run very 
high. 

During the nineteenth century the status of the 
Chinese was much improved. Many of them have 
adopted Christianity and have married native women. 
Important Government contracts have at times been 
made with Chinamen, and some few have received 
public recognition in the form of decorations and 
titles. 

Their numbers have steadily increased since the 
enactment of the exckision law in the eighteenth cen- 
tury, many ways of evading which have been devised 
by the wily Oriental. That the influx has continued 



SPANIARDS' CONTACT WITH THE MOROS. 149 

during recent years is shown by the Census return 
of over forty thousand Chinese of foreign birth. 

THE SPANIARDS COME INTO CONTACT WITH THE 

MOROS. 

During the early years of the Spanish occupation 
no attention was paid to Mindanao and the Sulu 
Archipelago, and the Moros on their part seemed to 
have refrained from encroaching upon the islands 
under Spanish control. In 1596 a Portuguese"^ 
adventurer obtained the royal sanction to attempt 
the conquest of Mindanao. The expedition, which 
consisted of one vessel carrying men-at-arms and the 
invariable complement of priests, ended disastrously. 
The commander and several of the soldiers were killed 
and the ship returned to Manila, having accomplished 
nothing more than arousing the resentment of the 
Muhammadans. 

From this time commenced the troubles with the 
southern natives, which continued over a period of 
two hundred and fifty years. Hitherto the piracy, 
which was the chief occupation of those people, had 
been confined to the waters adjacent to their own ter- 
ritory, but they now began to extend their depreda- 
tions to the northern islands. The sultans of Min- 
danao and Sulu entered into an offensive and de- 
fensive alliance against the Spaniards and co-operated 



*From 1581 to 1640, Portugal was an appanage of the Spanish 
Crown. 



150 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in the organization of piratical expeditions. They 
never lacked for men to man their ships from a popu- 
lation of sea-faring freebooters by heredity, and they 
were well armed. I^o portion of the Archipelago was 
free from the incursions of the Muhammadans, who 
swooped, in their war jnnks, upon coast towns, plun- 
dered and burned, and were at sea again before any 
punitive force could reach the spot. The principal 
part of their booty consisted of captives who were 
carried into slaverv. Amonff these were sometimes 
white men, and priests were regarded as particularly 
desirable prizes. 

These depredations seriously impeded the devel- 
opment of coast towns and inter-island traffic. The 
effects were especially severe in the Visayas, some of 
the islands of which were almost depopulated in con- 
sequence, and all of their inhabitants were reduced 
to a condition of abject poverty, so that the Govern- 
ment was more than once constrained to remit all 
taxes. Each succeeding governor essayed the task 
of suppressing these marauders. Countless expedi- 
tions were despatched against them. They were at- 
tacked on land and at sea. A garrison was main- 
tained in Mindanao at great expense. All these meas- 
ures proved ineffectual to suppress the scourge, and 
it was not until the introduction of gunboats that the 
Spaniards succeeded in getting the upper hand. The 
Moros were never, however, subdued by the Span- 
iards. Some of the chiefs made nominal submission 



LoMA Chubch. 

This is one of the churches that were originally built 
with an eye to defense, as may be seen from the high 
port-like windows and thick walls. It was the scene 
of hard fighting in the Tagalog Eebellion. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



/ ... 




I' 



THE BRITISH TAKE MANILA. 151 

while retaining actual independence, and several cam- 
paigns were conducted in Mindanao during the last 
twenty years of Spanish occupancy of the Philip- 
pines. 

THE BRITISH TAKE MANILA. 

In 1762 England declared war against France and 
Spain, and a British fleet was despatched to the 
Philippines. It arrived in September of that year 
under Admiral Cornish, with General Draper in 
command of the troops. The British squadron 
anchored in Manila Bay and two officers were sent 
ashore to demand the surrender of the city, which was 
refused. The entire garrison of Manila at the time 
consisted of six hundred soldiers with eighty pieces 
of artillery, whilst the British force numbered three 
thousand seamen, fifteen hundred European soldiers, 
and about a thousand Sipahis. 

Troops were landed from the British vessels and a 
siege and bombardment of the city commenced. Dur- 
ing the first week of the attack the defenders were re- 
inforced by five thousand native troops, with whom 
an assault in three columns upon the British posi- 
tions was made. Thev were beaten back with loss 
and the natives dispersed through the province. On 
the 5th of October the British troops entered the walls 
of the city and upon the following day Manila was 
given up by the Archbishop, who was acting-Governor 
at this time. By the terms of this capitulation the 



162 THE PHILIPPINES. 

entire Archipelago was surrendered and an indemnity 
of four millions of dollars was agreed upon. The day 
before the capitulation a judge of the Supreme Court, 
named Simon de Anda j Salazar, escaped in a native 
boat and fled to the Province of Bulacan, where he 
proclaimed himself Governor-General, and affected 
to ignore the action of the Archbishop. Simon de 
Anda raised troops among the natives and carried on 
a guerilla war until the British evacuated the islands, 
which they did early in 1764. 

During the period of something more than a year 
of British occupancy, Luzon was in a condition of 
extreme disturbance. In the provinces lawless- 
ness was rampant and necessarily unchecked. It 
was some years before the effects of this violent dis- 
turbance of the administration of government had 
subsided. 

The most notable of these affairs was the rising in 
Ilocos Sur under the leadership of one Diego de 
Silan, a native Christian. The city of Vigan was 
taken and sacked; the friars were held for ransom 
and the surrounding neighborhood was pillaged. 
Silan made his headquarters at Vigan and issued a 
manifesto in which he declared that Jesus of Kazareth 
was Captain-General of the district and that himself 
was His Alcalde. Silan sent a messenger to Manila 
conveying his acknowledgment of the sovereignty of 
the King of England, and the British Governor seems 
to have appointed him Alcalde Mayor. 



THE BRITISH TAKE MANILA. 153 

This rebellion was only suppressed with the assas- 
sination of Silan in May, 1763. 

The Island of Luzon was not pacified until 1765, 
after the Spaniards had lost, according to Zuniga,"'^ 
seventy of their countrymen and one hundred and 
forty native soldiers. The rebels are said, by the 
same authority, to have lost ten thousand lives in these 
uprisings. 

The conduct of Simon de Anda during this crisis 
in the affairs of the Colony met with the approval of 
the King, and a few years afterwards he was ap- 
pointed Governor-General. His first act was to wreak 
vengeance upon all who had opposed him in his self- 
constituted authority and upon others with whom his 
uncontrollable temper and imperious disposition had 
brought him in conflict. He imprisoned several mili- 
tary officers and officials, and others he sent back to 
Spain. He quarreled with the clergy, and in fact 
created enemies on all sides. The consequent spirit 
of unrest and hostility to the Executive spread from 
Manila to the provinces, and the term of Anda, which 
expired with his death in 1776, was marked by a num- 



♦ "Estadismo de las Islas Filipinas o mis viajes por este 
pais, por el Fadre Fr. Joaquin Martinez de Zuniga, Augustino 
calzado. Publica esta obra por primera vez extensamente 
anotada, W. E. Retana. Two Vols,, 1893. Although ^Yritten 
in 1803 and drawn upon by later writers, notably Buzeta, 
this valuable book remained in manuscript form for ninety 
years. 



154 THE PHILIPPINES. 

ber of riots and rebellions in different parts of the 
island. 

UPKISINGS OF THE NATIVES. 

The entire period of Spanish occupation of the 
Archipelago was marked by revolutionary movements 
and uprisings of more or less gravity in different 
parts of the islands. There were numerous causes 
for the spirit of discontent that led to these dis- 
turbances. Amongst the most important may be 
mentioned the system of encomiendas; conscrip- 
tion for military service ; enforced labor for the Gov- 
ernment without remuneration ; taxation and com- 
pulsory contributions to the Church ; the conduct of 
the friars and their exactions ; and the maladminis- 
tration of Spanish minor officials in the provinces. 
These causes led through many minor movements of 
a similar character in a gradually rising tide of 
rebellion to the Tagalog outbreak in 1896. 

In 1622 the natives of the island of Bohol broke 
into resistance to the missionaries. They burned sev- 
eral churches and otherwise inflicted damage upon 
the towns before they were subdued. A more serious 
rising in 1744 in the same island is said to have 
been occasioned by the tyranny of a priest who ab- 
rogated to himself the powers of a magistrate and 
caused natives to be confined at his pleasure. It 
seems that the priest had ordered the body of a 
native to lie unburied until it decomposed. The 



UPRISINGS OF THE NATIVES. 155 

brother of the latter, a man named Dagohoy, killed 
the priest in revenge and raised the standard of 
revolt. 

A large number of disaffected natives joined the 
rebel, and the band maintained its independence for 
thirty-five years, during which time the Government 
frequently found it necessary to send troops against 
them. Finally Dagohoy and his followers surren- 
dered on condition of receiving a full pardon. 

Leyte was the scene of an insurrection in 1622, 
when it became necessary for the Governor of Cebu 
to reinforce the local Governor w^th forty vessels and 
troops before peace could be restored. In 1649 the 
Governor-General decided to press natives of Samar 
into service at the Cavite Arsenal. The result was a 
serious uprising under a native named Sumoroy. The 
rebels killed a priest and burned several churches 
before they took to the hills. This outbreak was only 
crushed with difficulty and not until the leader had 
been betrayed by some of his own people. 

The riots of 1649 extended to other provinces for 
the same reason. In Albay the natives rose ; in Mas- 
bate Island they killed a Spanish officer ; a priest was 
murdered in Zamboanga ; a Spaniard was assassinated 
in Cebu ; and several Europeans lost their lives in 
Caraga and Butuan. In 1660 the natives of Pam- 
pahga and Pangasinan broke into revolt as the result 
of an order to cut timber for the Government. The 
insurgents formed three bodies aggregating upwards 



156 THE PHILIPPINES. 

of ten thousand armed men under the leadership of 
''King'' Malong. Ilocos province declared for the 
rebel chief and furnished him with a body of recruits. 
Reinforcements came in from every hand until Ma- 
long was enabled to take the field with forty thousand 
followers. Against this formidable uprising the 
Spaniards sent several detachments of troops and a 
flotilla of armed vessels. The insurgents were routed 
at all points and their leaders hanged. 

In 1823 a body of native troops, headed by a creole 
officer named N^ovales, attempted to seize the capital 
and subvert the Government. In 1827 Cebu and 
several other towns of the island Avere the scenes of 
violent outbreaks, and in 1844 the Governor of N^egros 
Island was killed in a rising due, it is said, to the 
forced employment of State prisoners on the Gov- 
ernor's private account. 

What is known as the Cavite Insurrection occurred 
in 1872. A portion of the native troops was im- 
plicated in this affair. They took possession of the 
Arsenal expecting to be supported by their accom- 
plices in Manila, but through some misunderstanding 
as to the signal for the uprising the plan for co- 
operation failed. The mutinous soldiers were soon 
suppressed. 

For alleged complicity in this affair Doctor Joseph 
Burgos and three other native priests were executed 
and several native clergy and laymen were banished 
from the country. The victims had made themselves 



UPRISINGS OF THE NATIVES. 157 

odious to the Spanish clergy by demanding the en- 
forcement of the enactments of the Council of Trent, 
which Avould have required the friars to retire from 
their incumbencies to monastic life. 

There appears to be evidence that the friars insti- 
gated the Cavite outbreak with a view to inculpating 
the native priests. 



THE PASSING OF SPANISH DOMINION. 



IV. 

THE PASSING OF SPANISH DOMINION. 

Birth of the Katipunan— The Patriot of the Philippines— 
The Tagal Rebellion — War with the United States— The 
Treaty of Paris — The Form of Spanish Administration— 
The Encomenderos — The Alcaldes — The Provincial Gov- 
ernors — Municipal Officials — The Andencia — Inadequate 
Reforms — The Judicial System — The Tardiness of Legal 
Processes. 

The severity of the Government in meting out pun- 
ishment to those suspected of implication in the Ca- 
vite disturbance had a deep and lasting effect upon the 
natives. They knew that it was due to the insistence 
of the friars, who had by this time established so 
complete an influence over the civil authorities that 
the former were justly held responsible for most of the 
abuses under which the people suffered. The eccle- 
siastics were the open opponents of reform, and from 
the inception of the Colony had thwarted most move- 
ments in that direction, whether emanating from the 
local, or the national, government. Toward the close 
of the Spanish regime in the islands, the friars had 
become fully aware of the widespread hatred for them- 
selves, which existed among all classes of the natives. 
The knowledge seems to have goaded them to a 
greater display of arrogance and to wholesale repris- 
als against all whom they knew or suspected to be 
inimical. 

11 ( 161 ) 



162 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Freemasonry had been introduced to the Philip- 
pines about ten years before the Cavite outbreak. 
The Roman Catholic Church is everywhere opposed 
to secret societies, and to the Freemasons most of ail. 

BIKTH OF THE KATIPUNAN. 

The Insular lodges soon turned into political or- 
ganizations, and thus incurred the extra antagonism 
of the priests. The majority of those executed, and 
those exiled, on account of the Cavite insurrection 
were members of the Masonic body. Out of the Free- 
masons grew a number of independent societies, each 
more radical than its predecessors, culminating in the 
Katipunan. The members of this order were Tagals, 
mostly in the ranks of the working people ; deter- 
mined, desperate men, who had nothing but their lives 
to lose. Their purpose was ^'to redeem the Philip- 
pines from its tyrants, the friars, and to found a 
communistic republic.'^ In 1896 the Katipunan prob- 
ably numbered about fifty thousand members. It was 
the inciting factor in the Tagal Rebellion and the 
backbone of the movement. 

In 1895 and 1896 the authorities adopted the most 
severe measures to suppress the Katipunan, with pre- 
cisely the reverse effect to that intended. The friars, 
who often acted in the capacity of detectives for the 
civil power, caused the deportation of gi'eat numbers 
of suspects. 

Without entertaining the sentiment of patriotism 



THE PATRIOT OF THE PHILIPPINES. 163 

in the broader sense, the Tagal has always evinced 
strong attachment to the soil and no penalty, short of 
death, could be more severe than exile from his 
native village. 

Sawyer* says : ''The greatest and the best-founded 
complaint of the natives against the priests was that 
whoever displeased them, either in personal or money 
matters, was liable to be denounced to the authorities 
as a filibuster, and to be torn from home and family 
and deported to some distant and probably unhealthy 
spot, there to reside at his own cost for an indefinite 
time by arbitrary authority, without process of law. 
Such a punishment, euphoniously termed 'forced resi- 
dence,' sometimes involved the death of the exile and 
always caused heavy expense, as a pardon could not be 
obtained without bribing some one." 

THE PATEIOT OF THE PHILIPPINES. 

The most notable victim of this system of lawless 
persecution was Kizal, the hero patriot of the Philip- 
pines, who suffered deportation, and ultimately death, 
as a result of the machinations of the friars. 

Jose Kizal y Mercado was born about the year 
1865, at Calamba, in Laguna Province. His father, 
a Filipino of some means, was able and anxious to 
afford him all possible facilities for acquiring a lib- 
eriil education, especially after the boy had displayed 

*The Inhabitants of the Philippines. F. N. Sawyer. New 
York, 1900. 



164 THE PHILIPPINES. 

unusual talent and application under the instruction 
of the Jesuits at Manila. He was sent to the Uni- 
versity of Madrid, from which he secured the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine and Philosophy. Later he 
prosecuted his studies in Paris and at various Ger- 
man universities, not without imbibing something of 
the socialistic ideas that pervaded those institutions 
at the time. The unhappy condition of his native 
land was the subject of Rizal's constant concern, and 
he pondered deeply upon the problem of its deliver- 
ance from the thraldom of the friars. Xeither then, 
nor at any later time, does Rizal appear to have har- 
bored any treasonable thoughts against the Spanish 
Government. Indeed, his last voluntary act was an 
exhibition of loyalty. But in his early years he be- 
came firmly convinced that the future prosperity of 
the Philippines depended upon its freedom from the 
domination of the friars, and he was ready to support 
any movement having that object in view. 

During Doctor Rizal's stay in Germany he pub- 
lished a romance entitled ''Noli me tangere/' in 
which the priests of the Philippines were depicted in 
an unattractive light and their worst practices ex- 
posed. This was followed by another political novel 
on somewhat similar lines. The books were written 
in Spanish and were doubtless widely read amongst 
the class which was held up to odium in them. 

Upon his return to the islands, shortly after the 
publication of these works, Rizal further excited the 



THE PATRIOT OF THE PHILIPPINES. 165 

enmity of the ecclesiastical body by disputing the 
title of the Dominican Order to certain lands which 
they occupied in his native town. He also allied him- 
self with other patriots of similar disposition and 
founded the ''Liga Filipina/* a secret society, most 
of the members of which were Freemasons. The prin- 
cipal article of their program was the ''expulsion of 
the friars, and confiscation of their estates." 

At length it became patent to Rizal that his safety 
depended upon leaving the country. He returned to 
Europe, and during his absence his relatives and the 
chief families of Calamba were evicted without notice 
or compensation from the holdings they rented from 
the religious order. 

In 1893 Rizal took up his residence in Hong 
Kong with the intention of following his profession. 
He appears to have received the assurance of the 
Governor-General, through the Spanish Consul, that 
he might return to the Philippines with confidence as 
to his personal safety. It is hardly probable that 
without some such guarantee he would have ven- 
tured to land openly at the capital and less probable 
that he would have included in his luggage revolu- 
tionary literature. However, he was immediately 
arrested upon the charge that the Custom House of- 
ficers had discovered seditious proclamations amongst 
his effects. 

Rizal was tried and sentenced to an indefinite term 
of ''enforced residence" at Dapitan, on the north 



166 THE PHILIPPINES. 

shore of Mindanao Island. In July, 1896, he peti- 
tioned the Governor-General to be permitted to go 
to Cuba and serve the Government as an army doc- 
tor. His request was granted, and he proceeded to 
Manila, arriving, by unfortunate chance, just as the 
Rebellion broke out. Ere this the name of Rizal had 
become a power Avith his countrymen, and his exile 
had strenghtened, rather than relaxed, his hold upon 
their memories and affections. Emilio Aguinaldo had 
not yet come into the public view, and there was 
at this time no Filipino whose influence over the 
masses could have been as great as that of Rizal. 
His presence in the capital at this juncture excited 
the apprehension of the authorities and he was shipped 
to Spain at the earliest possible opportunity. 

In view of succeeding events it is w^ell to note that 
Rizal carried commendatory letters from Governor- 
General Blanco to the Minister of War and to the 
Minister of the Colonies. They were similar in strain 
and recited that : '^I recommend to you with real in- 
terest Dr. Jose Rizal, who leaves for the Peninsula 
to place himself at the disposal of the Government as 
volunteer army doctor in Cuba. His conduct during 
the four years he has been in exile in Dapitan has 
been exemplary, and he is, in my opinion, the more 
worthy of pardon and benevolence, because he is in 
no way associated with the extravagant attempts 
which we are now deploring, neither in conspiracy 
nor in the secret societies which have been formed.'' 



THE PATRIOT OF THE PHILIPPINES. 167 

Had he wished, Rizal might have left the steamer at 
Singapore as his companion and fellow-patriot Rojas 
did. 

Upon his arrival at Barcelona, Kizal was arrested 
and confined in the fortress of Montjuich. Charges 
had been formulated against him by his relentless 
enemies, the friars, and cabled to the authorities in 
Spain. At the close of the year 1896 Rizal, a closely 
guarded state prisoner, was handed over to the Insular 
jurisdiction. By this time Blanco, whose humanity 
and sense of justice would at least have prevented 
the judicial murder of Bizal, had been recalled at the 
behest of the ecclesiastical party. Polavieja was at 
the head of the Insular Government and the country 
was under martial law. 

Hizal was hastily brought before a court-martial 
on the charges of sedition and rebellion. The testi- 
mony adduced by the prosecution was of the flimsiest 
character, and was amply refuted by Rizal, who con- 
ducted his own defense with ability and eloquence. 
Considering the fact that he had been virtually a 
state prisoner for close upon five years and that it 
was physically impossible for him to have taken any 
active part in the rebellion, it is difficult to see how 
the charges could have been substantiated, l^everthe- 
less, Rizal was convicted and sentenced to be shot. 
The execution was carried out on the last day of the 
year 1896. 

The death of Kizal was one of several similar acts 



168 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in which the priests allowed their hatred to get the 
better of their judgment, and brought upon themselves 
a copious harvest of vengeance. The affair created a 
more profound impression upon the Filipinos than 
even the execution of Doctor Burgos. 

! 
THE TAGAL EEBELLION. 

In August, 1896, the smouldering fire of discon- 
tent burst into flame. At the time of the outbreak of 
the Tagal Rebellion, General Blanco, the Governor- 
General, had but fifteen hundred European troops 
and six thousand native auxiliaries at his command. 
Of the former only seven hundred were in Manila and 
the loyalty of the latter was doubtful. Under these 
circumstances the General was forced to confine his 
operations to the defense of the city, around which 
several skirmishes took place during the first few 
months following the inception of the rebellion. 
Meanwhile the rebels were making good use of the 
respite. They established their headquarters in 
Imus, of the province of Cavite, which became the 
most important center of the rebellion. 

In IsTovember Blanco had received from Spain ad- 
ditions to his force, which brought the European con- 
tingent up to ten thousand, and he began to extend 
his operations, but he was recalled before any con- 
siderable headway had been made against the insur- 
rection. 

In the meantime the prisons of Manila were 



THE TAGAL REBELLION 169 

i 

crowded with natives suspected of sympathy with 
the insurgents. All process of law was disregarded 
in their arrests, and their disposition hy court-martial 
was equally summary. This military tribunal is 
strongly suspected of extortion in collusion with some 
of the civil authorities. Hundreds of the wealthi- 
est natives and mestizos of Manila were brought be- 
fore it and many of them are kno^vn to have pur- 
chased their release, in some instances only to go 
through the process again in a few weeks' time. Ship- 
loads of prisoners were consigned to the Caroline 
Islands, Fernando Po, Ceuta, and other penal colo- 
nies. The Manila volunteers were allowed to make 
domiciliary searches without warrant and to perpe- 
trate the worst kind of outrages upon native resi- 
dents of both sexes. N^umbers of suspects were exe- 
cuted without trial and not a few were tortured so 
that they became cripples for life. In fact, the acts 
of officials during this reign of terror equaled the 
deeds of the Inquisition at its worst. 

In December, Blanco was succeeded by General 
Polavieja, who brought with him two thousand fresh 
troops and who was rapidly reinforced until the num- 
ber of European soldiers under his command 
amounted to twenty-eight thousand. 

Several engagements were fought with the result 
that the insurgent forces in Cavite were dispersed 
after fifty-two days of hard and continuous fighting. 
The scene of the insurrection now shifted to the north 



170 THE PHILIPPINES. 

of Manila. During the operations in Cavite a half- 
caste named Llaneras had raised a body of a few 
thousand in the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan 
and had contrived to withstand the Spanish force 
sent against him. He was now joined by Aguinaldo 
with the remnant of the rebel army from the south. 
Immediately following the junction of the two chiefs 
the area of rebellion spread over the provinces of 
Pangasinan, Zambales, !N^ueva Ecija, Tarlac, and 
Ilocos. Meanwhile General Polavieja had retired on 
account of failing health and his place was taken 
by General Primo de Pivera. 

In July, 1897, the rebels circulated a proclamation 
in which was set forth their demands as follows : 

1. Expulsion of the friars and restitution to the 
townships of the lands which the friars have ap- 
propriated, dividing incumbencies held by them, as 
well as the episcopal sees, equally between Peninsular 
and Insular secular priests. 

2. Spain must concede to us, as she has to Cuba, 
Parliamentary representation, freedom of the press, 
toleration of all religious sects, laws common with 
hers, and administrative economic autonomy. 

3. Equality in treatment and pay betw^een Peninsu- 
lar and Insular civil servants. 

4. Eestitution of all lands appropriated by the 
friars to the townships, or to the original owners, or, 
in default of finding such owners, the State is to put 
them up to public auction in small lots of a value 



THE TAGAL REBELLION. 171 

within the reach of all and payable within four 
years, the same as the present State lands. 

5. Abolition of the Government authorities' powers 
to banish citizens, as well as all nnjust measures 
against Filipinos ; legal equality for all persons, 
whether Peninsular or Insular under the civic as well 
as the Penal Code. 

The conflict dragged on without prospect of ter- 
mination. Each day made it more clear to the Gov- 
ernor that, even if the rebels failed to make any 
headway, they could at least hold out indefinitely. In 
this dilemma General Rivera decided to resort to 
diplomacy. He employed a Pilipino, named Pedro 
Patemo, to open negotiations with the insurgent 
chiefs. After 'pourparlers extending over three or 
four months the Pacto de Biac-na-hato was signed, 
December 14, 1897, between Emilio Aguinaldo and 
other chiefs, representing the rebels, and Pedro A. 
Paterno, as attorney for the Captain-General. The 
terms of this agreement remain in dispute. The 
insurgents, whilst charging the Spaniards with bad 
faith in the matter, never published anything pur- 
porting to be a literal copy of, or extract from, 
the compact. The Spaniards have always claimed 
that the monetary consideration was the only one 
conceded. The insurgents have persistently main- 
tained that reforms and a general amnesty were con- 
diti-ons of their surrender, and it seems highly proba- 
ble that the latter at least must have been promised 



172 THE PHILIPPINES. 

to them. It is a singular fact that the originals of 
this treaty have never seen the light. The most likely 
hypothesis appears to be that the Governor-General 
cunningly inserted a clause to the advantage of the 
rebel leaders which they dared not divulge to their 
followers, and that the Spaniards, having broken their 
part of the compact, were equally concerned in keep- 
ing the details of it secret. 

The insurgents gave up their arms and on the 27th 
of December, 1897, Aguinaldo and thirty-four other 
leaders embarked for Hongkong. One instalment, 
representing about one-fifth of the total amount of 
money promised, was all that the insurgent leaders 
ever received. A wholesale persecution of those who 
had taken part in the rebellion followed the surrender 
and many executions took place. 

WAR WITH THE UT^ITED STATES. 

War was declared between Spain and the United 
States on the 23d of April, 1898. In Manila prepara- 
tions were made in feverish haste to withstand the 
American fleet which was known to be at Hongkong. 
The defenses of the city were in a lamentably deficient 
state. The land batteries were short of their comple- 
ment of guns and such as were mounted were out- 
of-date and encrusted with rust. Material for con- 
structing mines was lacking and the torpedoes on hand 
proved to be defective and useless. Augusti, who had 
succeeded Rivera as Governor-General, issued a bom- 



WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES. 173 

bastic proclamation in which he characterized the 
Americans as a composition of ''all the social excres- 
cences/' and declared their squadron to be ^'manned 
by foreigners possessing neither instruction nor dis- 
cipline." He sought to lull the apprehensions of 
the citizens with this assuring declaration: ''The ag- 
gressors shall not profane the tombs of your fathers, 
they shall not gratify their lustful passions at the cost 
of your waives' and daughters' honor, or appropriate 
the property that your industry has accumulated as a 
provision for your old age. 'Nol they shall not per- 
petrate any of the crimes inspired by their wickedness 
and covetousness because your valor and patriotism 
will suffice to punish and abase the people who ex- 
terminated the natives of !N^orth America instead of 
bringing to them the life of civilization and progress." 
The American fleet entered Manila Bay at three 
o'clock on the morning of May the first, and found 
the Spanish squadron ranged round the point of the 
peninsula of Cavite. The Spaniards, under Admiral 
Montojo, displayed the utmost bravery, but they were 
completely outmatched, and by eleven o'clock every 
one of their vessels was either destroyed or disabled. 
Admiral Dewey's demand for the surrender of Manila 
met with a refusal, but Cavite was evacuated and the 
Americans took possession of the arsenal and forts. 
There is no doubt that the Spaniards might easily 
have been shelled out of Manila, but in that case 
they would most assuredly have been massacred by 



174 THE PHILIPPINES 

the insurgents, large bodies of whom hemmed the city 
in on all sides, for Admiral Dewey had neither troops 
to hold the capital nor to overpower the rebels in case 
of a conflict with them. Throughout the succeeding 
operations not the least difficult task of the American 
commanders lay in preventing the Spaniards from 
falling into the hands of their enemies. 

Believing that Aguinaldo might be usefully em- 
ployed in controlling the insurgents. Admiral Dewey 
had brought him from Hongkong and he, with other 
leaders, was now landed and supplied with arms and 
ammunition. With thirty thousand rebel troops 
Aguinaldo laid siege to Manila, whilst the American 
squadron blockaded the port. For three months, and 
until the arrival of the American generals with rein- 
forcements, Aguinaldo' s force contrived to repel all 
sorties from Manila and to cut the city off from out- 
side communication. In the provinces the Spaniards 
were almost every^vhere defeated and large numbers 
were taken prisoner. By the middle of June two- 
thirds of Luzon was in the possession of the rebels, 
and on the 18th of that month Aguinaldo summoned 
deputies to a congress and formed what was called 
the Kevolutionary Government. This body admin- 
istered a large portion of the island, maintained order, 
and collected taxes. Upon the 12th of August, 189 S, 
the Protocol providing for the appointment of com- 
missioners to conclude a treaty of peace was signed 
in Washington. Upon the night of the same date the 



FiLIPINA WOMEX. 

These are typical full-blooded Tagals Id the universal 
costume of the better class. The portraits are thosp of 
two school-teachers. 

From Stereograph Copj'right, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES. 175 

Spaniards made an attack in force upon the American 
lines without the city and some hours of fierce fight- 
ing ensued. On the following day the combined land 
and sea forces of the Americans, with the co-operation 
of the insurgent army, made a vigorous attack upon 
the city. About mid-day Manila surrendered and 
terms of capitulation were negotiated between Gen- 
eral Greene and General Jaudenes, the rhetorical 
Augusti having fled aboard a German cruiser before 
the cessation of fighting. The articles of capitula- 
tion included the surrender of the Philippine Archi- 
pelago. 

Previous to the attack upon the capital the Amer- 
ican commander instructed Aguinaldo that his troops 
would not be permitted to enter the city, and the 
prohibition was continued in force after Manila fell. 
A few days later a provisional agreement w^as entered 
into, by the terms of which the Americans retained 
jurisdiction over Manila and the surrounding dis- 
tricts whilst the rest of the island remained under 
the control of the Eevolutionary Government. 

Aguinaldo selected Malolos for the temporary cap- 
ital of the insurgent government, and a Congress 
convened there on the 15th of September. Pedro A. 
Paterno was elected President and Deputies Legardo 
and Ocampo were elected Vice-President and Secre- 
tary respectively. One of the first decrees of this 
Congress imposed compulsory military service upon 
every able-bodied Filipino over the age of eighteen. 



176 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Aguinaldo was retained in the position of Generalis- 
simo with a salary of $25,000 and an allowance of 
$50,000 for expenses. The proceedings of this Con- 
gress indicate that its members confidently expected 
that the independence of the Philippines wonld be 
a provision of the pending treaty of peace, or follow 
their cession to the United States. 

THE TREATY OF PARIS. 

The treaty of peace between the United States 
and Spain was signed at Paris by the respective 
commissioners on the 10th day of December, 1898, 
and ratified by their governments a few months later. 
Spain agreed to cede to the United States the Philip- 
pine Archipelago in consideration of receiving $20,- 
000,000. Article 8 of the Treaty declares that "the 
abandonment and cession stipulated shall in no way 
affect the property and rights accorded by custom or 
law to the peaceful holders of goods of any sort 
in the provinces, cities, public or private establish- 
ments, civil or ecclesiastical corporations, or any other 
collectively which has any legal right to acquire goods, 
or rights in the ceded or abandoned territories, and 
the same applies to the rights and properties of indi- 
viduals of every nationality whatsoever." 

Article 9 recites that "Spanish subjects born in the 
Peninsula and resident in the territories, the sover- 
eignty of which Spain abandons, or cedes, may remain 
in, or go away from, those territories and still hold, 



THE TREATY OF PARIS. 177 

in either case, their property rights as well as the 
right to sell, or dispose of, the real estate, or its 
produce. They shall also have the right to follow 
their trades, or professions, subject to the laws affect- 
ing all other foreigners." 

It is easy to comprehend the grief and angei* with 
which the Filipinos learned the terms of the Treaty 
of Paris. Apparently the friars were as fii^mly 
entrenched as ever. The Americans had given them 
a title to the lands which the natives protested had 
been stolen from their rightful owners. Their arch- 
enemy with whom they had struggled for many years 
appeared to have the support of the powerful Gov- 
ernment of the United States, for no intimation of 
the ultimate action of the American authorities in 
the disposition of the friars' lands had as yet been 
given. 

The insurgent leaders were thoroughly disgusted 
with the turn of events, and it must be confessed that 
they had no little ground for their discontent The 
money which they had received from the Spanish 
Government ($400,000) as a condition of surrender 
in 1897, had been carefully husbanded for the future 
struggle that they anticipated and had been expended 
in their operations supporting the American invasion. 
There is no doubt that someone, who they had reason 
to suppose was authorized to speak for the American 
Government, had assured the Junta Patriotica in 
Hongkong that they might look for the independence 

12 



178 THE PHILIPPINES. 

of the Philippines to follow American success in 
wresting the islands from Spain. The expectations 
of the Filipinos were strengthened by Admiral 
Dewey's action in bringing Aguinaldo and his lieu- 
tenants to Manila in an American war vessel; in 
supplying them with arms; and in employing them 
in the ensuing campaign. The services rendered by 
the insurgents during the three months that the Amer- 
ican fleet lay in Manila Bay, quite unable for lack 
of troops to take advantage of the naval victory, 
should not be lightly estimated. Even after the ar- 
rival of reinforcements from America, the revolution- 
ary forces afforded valuable assistance in the reduc- 
tion of the city and afterwards in holding the island 
and maintaining order. 

To have granted independence to the Philippines 
at that time would have been to visit the people with 
a greater misfortune than a continuance of the rule 
of the friars, and it is well that the American Gov- 
ernment did not entertain either idea. But it can 
hardly be questioned that both policy and justice de- 
manded prompt and substantial recognition of the 
services of the leaders in the Filipino rebellion. Had 
this been done it is probable that Aguinaldo and his 
companions could have been induced to lay do^^m their 
arms and to submit to the authority of the American 
Government. That they continued the contest for 
the possession of their country — a contest in which 
they had already sacrificed fifty thousand lives — is 



THE TREATY OF PARIS. 179 

not to their discredit. Senator Hoar, addressing 
Congress on the subject, said: ''Mr. President, there 
is one mode by which the people of the Philippine 
Islands could establish the truth of the charges as to 
their degradation and incapacity for self-government 
which have been made by the advocates of Imperalism 
in this debate, and that mode is by submitting tamely 
and without resistance to the United States." 

There had been serious friction, bordering at times 
upon open rupture, between the American and in- 
surgent troops from the time of the arrival of the 
former, but it was not until February, 1899, that 
the ill-advised and hopeless armed opposition of the 
Filipinos to the United States Government began. It 
is impossible to determine the responsibility for the 
immediate outbreak. Each side accused the other 
of undue precipitancy and aggravation, but the ques- 
tion is of little consequence. 

The subjugation of the insurrectos was accom- 
plished under extreme difficulties. The native troops 
maintained a guerilla war for years, retreating to 
the mountains, or the jungle, when pressed, and only 
attacking in overwhelming numbers. The capture of 
Aguinaldo broke the back of the resistance, and al- 
though a few armed bodies remained at large in dif- 
ferent parts of the Archipelago, the Philippine Com- 
mission was able to certify on September the 11th, 
1902, that ''The recently existing insurrection of 
the Philippine Islands has ceased and a condition of 



180 THE PHILIPPINES. 

general and complete peace has been established 
therein." At this point it may be well to sketch in 
outline the system of administration under the Span- 
iards. We shall thereby gain some idea of the task 
which was presented to the American Government 
upon taking over the islands, the extent of its achieve- 
ment up to the present, and the difficulties yet to be 
overcome. 

THE FOEM OF SPANISH ADMINISTRATION. 

The supreme head of the Spanish administration 
of the Philippines was the governor-general. The 
commission of Legaspi authorized him to exercise 
judicial functions, to ''hear, examine, and decide any 
civil, or criminal suit, and to administer over civil 
and criminal justice, in company with the officers of 
justice who may be appointed." For many years 
the judiciary formed a part of the executive govern- 
ment and always exercised considerable influence 
upon its actions. 

The governor-general was invested with despotic 
powers. He might remove any official at will, and 
expel any person from the islands. On the other 
hand, unless these powers were exercised in accord- 
ance with the will of the priests, the governor-gen- 
eral's tenure of office was likely to be cut short, and 
so if he endeavored to suppress the dishonesty and 
malfeasance of the civil officials. The term of office 
of the governor-general was three years, with a salary 



THE ENCOMENDEROS. 181 

of $40,000 per annum, and liberal allowances. This, 
like all other appointments in the Philippines, was 
subject to wire-pulling and bribery in Madrid. Dur- 
ing later years all the civil posts in the islands were 
systematically farmed by the members of the Cortes 
and other influential persons at the Spanish capital. 

THE ENCOMENDEROS. 

As the country yielded to the Spaniards it was 
divided into provinces and military districts and 
these in their turn into encomiendas, patterned after 
the repartinientos of Spanish America. The holders 
of these sections of territory collected the Govern- 
ment tribute and as much else as they could exact 
from the natives on their own account. They prac- 
tically held the trihutos in slavery and subjected them 
to the grossest cruelties. Bishop Salazar wrote to 
the King in 1583 regarding the encomenderos, ^They 
collect tribute from children, old men, and slaves, 
and many remain unmarried because of the tribute, 
while others kill their children. . . . But the 
end is not here, but in the manner of collecting, for, 
if the chief does not give them as much gold as they 
demand, or does not pay for as many Indians as 
they say there are, they crucify the unfortunate chief, 
or put his head in the stocks. . . . What the 
encomendero does after having collected his tribute 
in the manner stated is to return home and for an- 
other year he neither sees nor hears of them. He 



182 THE PHILIPPINES. 

takes no more account of them than if they were deer 
until the next year, when the same thing occurs." 
There is some satisfaction in the knowledge that sev- 
eral of the encomenderos fell victims to the wrath of 
the miserable trihutos. 

THE ALCALDES. 

The encomenderos were succeeded by alcaldes, 
whose rule was less inhuman only because greater 
restraint was placed upon them. They had not, like 
their predecessors, the right to the fruits of the na- 
tives' toil, but they enjoyed the ''indulto de comercw' 
or privilege of trading. This indulgence was never 
intended to act as a restriction upon the operations 
of the natives, but the alcaldes made it the medium 
for exercising a virtual monopoly and forced the na- 
tives to conduct all their transactions with them. 

The office of alcalde carried with it a salary of 
$300 a year and upwards. From this sum, however, 
taxes were deducted and the annual fee for the in- 
dulto, which usually amounted to nearly as much as 
the entire salary. IsTevertheless the office of alcalde 
was much sought after and high prices were paid for 
the appointment. Mazorca stated, in 1840, that: 
''There are candidates up to the grade of Brigadier 
who relinquish a $3,000 salary to pursue their hopes 
and projects in Governorship." The alcaldes often 
found an additional source of profit in the collection 
of the Royal tribute. Silver being scarce in the in- 



THE ALCALDES. 183 

terior the natives were frequently obliged to make 
payment in grain, or other produce. This the alcalde 
accepted at an arbitrary appraisement very much be- 
low the actual value and in accounting to the central 
authority made a personal profit of the difference. 

These men, to whose hands the functions of gov- 
ernment and the administration of justice were en- 
trusted, were generally ignorant, often brutal, and 
never honest. In 1810 Tomas de Comyn had the 
following to say of the alcaldes: 'Tn order to be a 
Chief of a Province in these islands no training, or 
knowledge, or special services are necessary ; all per- 
sons are fit and admissible. . . . It is quite a 
common thing to see a barber, or a Governor's lackey, 
a sailor, or a deserter,' suddenly transformed into 
an alcalde. Administrator, and Captain of the forces 
of a populous province, without any counsellor but 
his rude understanding, or any guide but his pas- 
sions.'^ 

In 1844: a Koyal Decree prohibited future trading 
on the part of any Government ofiicials but the ad- 
ministration of the civil rule of provinces remained 
in the hands of Alcaldes-May ores, who exercised ex- 
ecutive and judicial functions. The situations some- 
times arising out of this anomalous condition might 
have furnished material for the libretto of a comic 
opera. The Alcalde-Mayor issued an order in his 
capacity of Governor. A protest was made to himself 
in the capacity of Judge. The Judge supported the 



184 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Governor, and an appeal was taken to the central 
anthority in Manila. The central authority referred 
the matter back to the Alcalde-Mayor for a report 
upon the actions of the Governor and the Judge. 
The only result of this circumlocutionary proceeding 
was to put the composite official in possession of a 
list of complainants upon whom he could visit his dis- 
pleasure. 

In 1886, a much-needed reform was effected by 
the appointment of Civil Governors and the restric- 
tion of Alcaldes to judicial duties. Each Governor 
was provided with an assistant, who was styled Secre- 
tary, and whose most important duty was to act as 
a check upon his superior. 

THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS. 

The Provincial Governor was the representative of 
the Governor-General; whose edicts he was expected 
to publish and enforce. He was charged with the 
maintenance of order and the control and direction of 
the Civil Guard and local constabulary. He was 
responsible for the proper performance of the duties 
of the petty municipal authorities, and he could re- 
move them at discretion. As chief of the police 
force, it was his duty to cause the arrest of suspicious 
persons and law-breakers, but he was bound to bring 
the suspect, or offender, before the judicial authority 
within three days of his seizure. The Governor had 
the powers of a police magistrate. He could dispose 



THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS. 185 

of minor cases and might impose a fine not to exceed 
$60, and in default of payment he might order the 
offender to undergo imprisonment not to exceed thirty 
days. 

The Governor was responsible for the postal serv- 
ice and telegraph ; public lands, woods, forests and 
mines ; education, health, charities, and prisons ; pub- 
lic works, and the collection of taxes ; agriculture and 
industry. 

The Governor was not permitted to have any hand 
in the disposition of public funds. His provincial 
and municipal accounts were required to be coun- 
tersigned by his Secretary, w^ho prefixed the word 
''Intervine" to his signature. The Governor was not 
allowed any of the percentages which the Alcaldes- 
May ores formerly enjoyed, nor any emoluments be- 
yond his stipulated salary. 

Under these conditions the Provincial Governor was 
a great improvement over the Alcalde-Mayor, but it 
was mainly on account of negative qualities. Few 
Governors took an active interest in the betterment of 
their provinces, and, indeed, their scope of action 
was greatly restricted by circumstances. In the first 
place, the Governor found that peaceful administra- 
tion, and perhaps the retention of his office, de- 
pended upon the goodwill of the friars and conformity 
with their wishes. Loss of office might follow a 
change of ministry, the death or downfall of a patron, 
or the desire of some influential personage to make a 



186 THE PHILIPPINES. 

place for a favorite. With such uncertainty as to the 
term of his official life it could hardly be expected 
that a Governor would devote himself very earnestly 
to schemes for the improvement of his province. He 
would seldom have the satisfaction of Avitnessing the 
fruition of his efforts, or even the assurance that 
his interrupted work would be carried on by his suc- 
cessor. As has been said, he had no control of 
the disposition of public revenues raised in his prov- 
ince, and which should, in large part at least, have 
been expended upon public works within the dis- 
tricts from which they were derived. All such moneys 
were, however, remitted to Manila, and by the central 
government diverted to other purposes, whilst the 
plans and estimates of provincial officials for roads 
and bridges were pigeon-holed. If a bridge broke 
down, so it remained, and the Government even made 
money out of the misfortune of the community by 
selling the right to establish a ferry. There was in 
each municipality a local tax termed ''Caja de Com- 
munidad/' a sinking fund, contributed by the peo- 
ple against a time of stress and need, but this found 
its way to Manila and was misappropriated. 

Foreman says that in 1887 the parish priest of 
Banan, Batangas Province, told him that although 
there must have been $300,000 paid into this fund 
up to the year 1882 by his parish alone, yet financial 
aid was refused by the Government during the 
cholera epidemic of that year. 



THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS. 187 

To quote further from Foreman : "The 'Tribunal/ 
which served the double purpose of Town Hall and 
Bak Bungalow for wayfarers, was often a hut of 
bamboo and palm leaves, whilst others, which had been 
decent buildings generations gone by, lapsed into a 
wretched state of dilapidation. In some villages there 
was no Tribunal at all, and the official business had 
to be transacted in the municipal Governor's house. 
I first visited Calamba (on the Laguna de Bay shore) 
in 1880, and for fourteen years to my knowledge the 
headmen had to meet in a sugar-store in lieu of a 
Tribunal. In San Jose de Buenavista, the capital of 
Antique Province, the Town Hall w^as commenced in 
good style and left half finished during fifteen years. 
Either some one for pity's sake, or the headmen for 
their own convenience, went to the expense of thatch- 
ing over half the unfinished structure. This half was 
therefore saved from utter ruin while all but the stone 
walls of the remainder rotted away. So it continued 
until 1887, when the Government authorized a por- 
tion of this building to be restored. 

"As to the roads connecting the villages, quite 
twenty per cent, of them serve only for travelers on 
foot, on horseback, or on buffalo back at any time, 
and in the wet season certainly sixty per cent, of 
all the Philippine highways are in too bad a state for 
any kind of passenger conveyance to pass with safety. 
]n the wet season many times I have made a sea 
journey in a prahu simply because the highroad near 



188 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the coast had become a mud track for want of mac- 
adamized stone and drainage, and only serviceable for 
transport by buffalo. In the dry season the sun 
mended the roads and the traffic over the baked clods 
reduced them more or less to dust so that vehicles 
could pass. Private property owners expended much 
time and money in the preservation of public roads, 
although a curious law existed prohibiting repairs to 
highways by non-official persons. 

"Every male adult, or resident (with certain ex- 
ceptions) had to give the State fifteen days' labor 
per annum or redeem the labor by payment. Of 
course thousands of the most needy class preferred 
to give their fifteen days. This labor and the cash 
paid by those who redeemed the obligation were theo- 
retically supposed to be employed in local improve- 
ments. 

"The Budget for 1888 showed only the sum of 
$120,000 to be used in road-making and mending in 
the whole Archipelago. 

"It provided for a Chief Inspector of Public Works 
with a salary of $6,500, aided by a staff of forty-eight 
technical and eighty-two non-technical subordinates. 

"As a matter of fact the Provincial and District 
Governors were often urged by their Manila chiefs 
not to encourage the employment of labor for local 
improvements, but to press the laboring classes to pay 
the redemption tax to swell the central coif ers, re- 
gardless of the corresponding misery and discomfort 



MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS. 189 

and loss of trade in the interior. But labor at the 
disposal of the Governor wae not alone sufficient. 
There was no fund from which to defray the cost of 
materials; or, if these could be found without pay- 
ment, some one must pay for the transportation by 
buffaloes and carts, and find the implements for the 
laborers' use. How could laborers' hands alone re- 
pair a bridge which had rotted away ? To cut a log 
of wood for the public service would have necessitated 
communications with the Inspection of Woods and 
Forests and other centres and many months' delay." 

MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS. 

Each township had its principales, or headmen, of 
whom there were twelve, elected by popular vote. 
From this body the petty local officials were chosen ; 
namely, the Gohernadorcillo, or ''Petty Governor," 
and his lieutenants, the alguaciles, or constables, and 
other minor officers. For the maintenance of order, 
and for the protection of the town, chiefly against la- 
drones, there was a body of local police called cuadril- 
leros, who were generally armed with bolos and lances, 
but in the more important centers carried firearms. 
The Gobernadorcillos were responsible to the Pro- 
vincial Governor for the condition of affairs in their 
respective towns and for the due payment of taxes. 

•The immediate collection of taxes was effected by 
the headman of each harangay, or hamlet, which 
was the municipal unit. The harangay consisted of 



190 THE PHILIPPINES. 

from forty to fifty families, who were termed sdcopes. 
For the payment of the proper taxes of his sdcopes 
the headman was held responsible and a great deal of 
latitude was permitted in the methods of collection. 
The son of the Barangay Chief was recognized as 
his assistant, and both were exempt from taxation 
as remuneration for the performance of their duties. 
The office was hereditary, and on account of the 
unpleasant nature of its duties and the penalties at- 
tendant upon failure, was seldom desired, but it could 
not be avoided, l^o excuse was admitted for delin- 
quency on the part of the headsman. His goods were 
liable to be sold to make up a shortage in his returns, 
and that recourse failing, he would be cast into prison. 

The Goheriiadorcillo disposed of petty disputes 
arising in his town, but when these assumed a legal 
aspect they were referred to the local Justice of the 
Peace, who was directly responsible to the Provincial 
Judge. 

The salary of a Gohernadorcillo was $2 per month, 
which, of course, fell very short of the actual ex- 
penses which he incurred in the performance of 
his duties, so that he was often forced to recoup 
himself by illegal exactions from the to^vnspeople. 
The office carried with it the title of '^Captain," and 
on that account was frequently sought by wealthy 
natives without regard to any profit that might be de- 
rived from it. 

Under this system of administration five or six 



jj^fM f^n: 




bitf hj 


jt'.i 




ai. 



The Young Idea. 

One of the municipal primary schools of Manila, with 
the scholars and native teachers who are instructing 
in English. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS. 191 

Spaniards would furnish the entire coiUplement of 
European civil servants of a province. The salaries 
attached to all offices were very small. The system 
was therefore economical in the extreme, but the 
taxpayers derived no benefit from that circumstance. 
Every official, the native no less than the Spaniard, 
looked upon his position as a field for plunder. The 
reform of 1886 did not effect any improvement in 
this respect. In fact, one of its immediate results 
was to increase the number of the parasites who fas- 
tened upon the country and pilfered the funds that 
should have been applied to public w^orks. Fre- 
quently officials retired to Spain with accumulations 
far in excess of the aggregate of their salaries for the 
term of office, and this despite the fact that in most 
cases they paid a large premium for the appointment, 
or remitted a considerable proportion of its emolu- 
ments to the patron annually. So universal was the 
corruption pervading the administration that it came 
to be regarded as a matter of course. Foreman re- 
lates that he "met at table a provincial chief judge, 
the nephew of a General, and other persons, who 
openly discussed the value of the different Provincial 
Governments (before 1884) in Luzon Island on the 
basis of so much for salary and so much for fees and 
'caidas/ '"^ 



♦Caidas, literally "droppings." This was the expressive 
term employed by the Spanish officials to denote what we 
would call "rake-offs." 



192 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The office of Governor-General was not free from 
the taint. Sawyer, referring to what is practically 
a proven fact, says: ''Weyler was said to have pur- 
chased the appointment from the wife of a great min- 
ister too honest to accept bribes himself, and the 
price was commonly reported to have been $30,000 
paid do-\vri and an undertaking to pay the lady an 
equal sum every year of his term of office." Fore- 
man undoubtedly refers to the same individual when 
he writes : ''A General who has quite recently made 
for himself a world-wide notoriety for alleged cruelty 
in another Spanish colony enriched himself by pecu- 
lation to such an extent that he was at his wit's ends 
how to remit his ill-gotten gains clandestinely. 
Finally he resolved to send an army Captain over to 
Hongkong with $35,000, with which to purchase a 
draft on Europe. The Captain left, but he never re- 
turned." If the story lacks anything of truth let 
us hope that it is only in an understatement of the 
sum involved. 

Worse, however, than the corruption that character- 
ized the civil departments of the administration was 
the shameful venality of the judicial branch from the 
supreme court to the provincial justice of the peace. 

THE AUDENCIA. 

The Audencia Avas established in 1584. It con- 
sisted of a president, that office being filled by the 
Governor-General; three auditors, or associate jus- 



THE AUDENCIA. 193 

tices ; a fiscal, or prosecuting attorney, and minor 
auxiliary officials. The Audencia had jurisdiction in 
all cases that might be appealed from the provincial 
authorities. It acted as a court of first instances 
only in ''cases which, on account of their importance, 
the amount involved, and the dignity of the parties, 
might be tried in a superior court, and criminal 
cases arising in the place where the court might 
meet." 

There was no appeal from the findings of the 
Audencia, except in civil cases of sufficient magni- 
tude to justify an appeal to the King. 

In the event of the inability of the governor to con- 
tinue his duties, the Audencia was empowered to as- 
sume the government. The Audencia had authority 
to summon citizens of the islands either in peace or 
war. The Audencia also had a certain degree of 
jurisdiction in matters ecclesiastical. The duties and 
functions of this body were multiplex and various, 
being judicial, legislative, and administrative in 
character. 

The Audencia soon incurred the displeasure of the 
priests, and their representations to the King resulted 
in the abolition of the body in 1589. It was, how- 
ever, re-established in 1598, and in 1776 its personnel 
was enlarged by the addition of several members. 
Previous to 1840 the Audencia had discretionary 
power over the retention and removal of judges and 
justices, thus subjecting them to an altogether unde- 

13 



194 THE PHILIPPINES. 

sirable influence. In that year a royal decree consid- 
erably curtailed that power. 

From time to time there have been changes in the 
composition and functions of the Audencia which it is 
not necessary to consider. 

USTADEQUATE REFORMS. 

We have already noticed the alcaldes-may ores, the 
governor- judges of provinces. A royal decree of 
1844 instituted a reform in the qualification and 
status of these officials. From that time the alcaldes 
were divided into three classes. Three years' service 
in each category was required for promotion to the 
next, and members of the highest grade were eligible 
for appointment to the post of justice. It was pro- 
vided that no person might be made alcalde unless 
he had practiced law for ten years, or had held an 
office for which a similar qualification was required. 

By the royal decree of 1860 the composite func- 
tions which had been performed by the alcaldes- 
mayores were separated, and thereafter their author- 
ity was restricted to judicial matters. All the ordi- 
nary jurisdiction and functions of a judge of first 
instance devolved upon an alcalde. Some governors 
continued to exercise similar functions. Courts of 
first instance, and governors exercising the functions 
of such, took cognizance of all criminal and civil 
cases arising within their territories, except such as 
came under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical au- 



THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 195 

thorities, or other special courts, and the audencias. 
They gave judgment in all civil cases in which the 
interest involved exceeded 1,000 pesetas. 

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 

A royal decree of 1870 divided the provinces for 
the purpose of the administration of justice into 
judicial and municipal districts. Each district was 
given an audejicia, each judicial district a court of 
first instance, and each municipal district a justice of 
the peace. The positions of judges were given to 
lawyers, or persons who had some professional, or 
academic title, or to those ^Svhose position and circum- 
stances warranted" the appointment. 

As a rule, down to the end of the Spanish sover- 
eignty, the judges of the courts were Spaniards, and 
the entire judicial system, including the codes of civil 
and criminal law, followed closely, if not literally, 
the forms observed in Spain. These were charac- 
terized by many proceedings calculated to prolong 
litigation indefinitely, to add greatly to the expense 
of lawsuits, to keep prisoners in confinement for long 
periods, and to prevent the impartial and speedy 
administration of justice. 

Among other causes which were calculated to aug- 
ment the troubles and expenses of all litigants was 
the ignorance of the alcaldes-may ores, and of many 
of the judges of first instance, of the law and the 
proper mode of procedure, as these ofiicials were ap- 



196 THE PHILIPPINES. 

pointed as a rule for political reasons, or for almost 
any reason but proficiency, until after the separation 
of judicial and executive functions as already set 
forth. Again, the judges of first instance and fi scales 
had very small salaries, and municipal judges, and 
the clerks, and secretaries, of the courts had none 
at all, being dependent for remuneration upon official 
fees and such additional compensation as the liti- 
gants were willing and able to pay. The result was 
a great deal of corruption and extortion, and, taken 
in connection with the many legal obstructions always 
at hand and always resorted to by the dishonest and 
unscrupulous, made an appeal for redress to the 
courts so expensive as to be entirely beyond the reach 
of the average Filipino. Sawyer, whose opportuni- 
ties for experience were exceptional, compares the 
alcaldes' courts to those of the Chinese Yamens, and 
goes on to say that ^'bad as the alcaldes' courts were, T 
think that the culminating point of corruption was the 
Audencia of Manila. Escrihano, ahogado, juez, 
auditor, fiscal, vied with each other in showing that 
to them honor and dignity were but empty words. 
The records of these courts from the earliest 
times is one of long-continued infamy." The venality 
of the courts and their tortuous methods of procedure 
were only equaled by their tardiness of action. Saw- 
yer and Foreman each cite instances of deferred jus- 
tice which came under their personal observation and 
which it is safe to assert could not have occurred 
under any other civilized government in the world. 



TARDINESS OF LEGAL PROCESSES. 197 

THE TARDINESS OF EEGAL PROCESSES. 

In 1888, Juan de la Cruz, a Filipino, was arrested 
upon a charge of murder and lodged in Cavite jail. 
Direct evidence against him was not forthcoming, 
although circumstances pointed strongly to his guilt. 
Witnesses were examined and their depositions taken, 
but the prisoner was not brought before the court. So 
months and years passed away and still Juan con- 
tinued in prison. ''Judges came and judges Avent, 
but the trial came no nearer. Year after year a judge 
of the Audencia came in state to inspect the prisoners 
and year after year Juan was set do^^m as await- 
ing his trial.'' Meanwhile some of the witnesses 
had left the islands and one, at least, was dead. 
In 1896 a Scotch engineer, who had not been in 
the Philippines at the time the crime was com- 
mitted, was cited by a judge and asked if he could 
identify the prisoner, ten years after his arrest. 
Juan de la Cruz was never tried. He may have died 
like many another prisoner awaiting judgment, or 
he may have been released when the rebels occupied 
Cavite. 

In 1884, a band of pirates raided the plantation 
of an Englishman in the province of Tayabas and 
committed several murders. Twenty-six of their 
number were captured and lodged in jail. To quote 
from Sawyer, ''Year after year passed, still they re- 
mained in prison ; judges came, stayed their term, 



198 THE PHILIPPINES. 

were promoted, and went, but still these men were 
never sentenced. In 1889 I visited Laguimanoc, 
this Avas five years after the date of the mur- 
ders ; some of the prisoners had died in prison, the 
others were awaiting their sentence. ... A year 
later I again visited Laguimanoc, but the trial of the 
prisoners was no further advanced. No less than 
nine of them died in prison; still no sentence was 
pronounced. ... A few years ago . . . the 
surviving prisoners were pardoned by the Queen Re- 
gent, on the occasion of the young King's birthday." 

Foreman says : '' . . . Whoever might be the 
legal adviser retained, a criminal, or civil, suit in the 
Philippines was one of the worst calamities that could 
befall a man. Between notaries, procurators, so- 
licitors, barristers, and the sluggish process of the 
courts, a litigant was fleeced of his money, often wor- 
ried into a bad state of health, and kept in horrible 
suspense and doubt for years. When judgment Avas 
given it was as hard to get it executed as it was to 
win the case. Even then, when the question at issue 
was supposed to be settled, a defect in the sentence 
could always be concocted to reopen the whole affair. 
If a case had been tried and judgment given under 
the Civil Code a Avay was often found to convert it 
into a criminal case, and when apparently settled 
under the Criminal Code a flaw could be discovered, 
under the Laws of the Indies, or the Siete Partidas, 
or the Roman Law, or the Novisima Recopilacion, or 



TARDINESS OF LEGAL PROCESSES. 199 

the Antiguos fiieros, Decrees, Royal Orders, Orde- 
nanzas de huen Gohierno, and so forth, by which the 
case could be reopened." 

Foreman mentions the celebrated case of Jurado 
and Company versus the Hongkong and Shanghai 
Banking Corporation, as an illustration of the delays 
and uncertainties attendant upon litigation in the 
civil courts. Suit was entered in the j^ear 1884. 

^'The Bank had agreed to make advances on goods 
to be imported by the firm in exchange for the firm's 
acceptance. ... In due course the Bank had 
reason to doubt the genuineness of certain documents. 
Mr. Jurado was imprisoned, but shortly released on 
bail. He was dismissed from his official post of sec- 
ond Chief of Telegraphs, worth $4,000 a year. Goods 
as they arrived for his firm, were seized and stored 
pending litigation, and deteriorated to only a fraction 
of their original worth. His firm was forced by 
these circumstances into liquidation and Jurado sued 
the Bank for damages. The case was open for sev- 
eral years, during which time the Bank coffers were 
once sealed by judicial warrant, a sum of cash was 
actually transported from the Bank premises, the 
Bank manager was nominally arrested, but really a 
prisoner on parole at his house. Several sentences 
of the court were given in favor of each party. Years 
after this they were all quashed on appeal to Madrid. 
Mr. Jurado went to Spain to fight his case. In 1891 
I accidentally met him and his brother (a lawyer) in 



200 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the street in Madrid. The brother told me the claim 
against the Bank then amounted to $935,000, and 
judgment for that sum would he given in a fortnight 
thence. Still years after that, when I was again in 
Manila, the case was yet pending and another on- 
slaught was made on the Bank. The Court called on 
the manager to deliver up the funds of the Bank. On 
his refusal to do so a mechanic was sent there to open 
the safes. This man labored in vain for a week. 
At one stage of the proceedings the Bank 
especially retained a reputed Spanish lawyer, who 
went to Madrid to push the case. Later on a British 
Q. C. was sent over to Manila from Hongkong to ad- 
vise the Bank. The Prime Minister was appealed to ; 
the good offices of our Ambassador in Madrid were 
solicited. For a long time the Bank was placed in a 
most awkward legal dilemma. The other side con- 
tended that the Bank could not be heard, or appear 
by itself, or by proxy, on the gTound that mider its 
own charter it had no right to be established in 
Manila at all, etc. Half a dozen times over the case 
was supposed to be finally settled, but reopened again. 
Happily it may now (1899) be regarded as closed for- 
ever." 

It appears that after all the futile litigation this 
case was finally settled out of court. 



AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION. 



V. 

AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION. 

The Central Government and Legislative Authority — Pro- 
vincial and Municipal Governments — Administration of 
Justice — Civil Service System — The Education of the 
Filipinos — Means of Communication — Foreign Commerce 
— Sources of Revenue — Navigation, Health, etc. — Manila 
— Bonded Indebtedness — The Census of the Philippine 
Islands — A Model Proclamation — American Census Meth- 
ods Followed — Novel Experiences of Census Agents — 
Great Scope of the Census. 

''The Philippines are ours, not to exploit, but to 
develop, to civilize^ to educate, to train in the science 
of self-government. This is the path of duty which 
we must follow, or be recreant to a mighty trust com- 
mitted to us. 

"The question is not will it pay, but rather will we 
do what is right." 

In these noble sentiments President McKinley 
gave expression to the policy of the American Gov- 
ernment toward the Philippines and their people. 
The high standard of conduct set by this platform 
has continued to characterize our rule in the Archi- 
pelago, and it is to be hoped that it will ever do so. 
• Even at the best period of Spanish sovereignty the 
political and economic condition of the islands af- 
forded but a poor basis for the acquirement of 

( 203 ) 



204 THE PHILIPPINES. 

enlightened ideas upon government. There is every 
reason to believe that had the Filipinos secured their 
independence they would not, in the course of a long 
time, if ever, have brought their country to the state 
of reformation and advancement which has already 
been bestowed upon it under American administra- 
tion. Furthermore, it is unquestionable that the Fili- 
pinos would have been content with a much less de- 
gree of liberty and beneficent action than that which 
they have experienced. 

The most severe indictment of the American Gov- 
ernment by foreign observers rests upon the asser- 
tion that they have granted to the Filipinos more 
extensive freedom than they are capable of exercis- 
ing with good effect; that the polic}^ of the Philip- 
pines for the Filipinos is founded upon an "impossible 
and quixotic theory" ; and that the scheme of placing 
the "brown brother" upon a political equality with 
the white man is ill-advised and bound to result 
disastrously. 

\^TLether these are errors time alone can tell, but 
at worst they will prove to have been the outcome 
of benevolent mis judgment. Better a thousand times 
that we should be convicted of over-indulgence in our 
dealings with the natives than that an accusation of 
oppression, or unfairness, should be established 
against us. One thing is beyond dispute, and that is, 
that if the Filipinos should display ineptness under 
the present conditions of American guidance and con- 



INSULAR ADMINISTRATION. 205 

trol their incapacity for self-government will be abso- 
lutely proved. 

By the terms of the Treaty of Paris, which went 
into effect March 7, 1899, the Philippine Islands be- 
came a possession of the United States. The Taft 
Commission was appointed by President McKinley, 
in March, 1900, from w4iich time the civil adminis- 
tration of the territory dates. 

Let us see what has been done for the islands and 
their inhabitants in these five years of American 
rule :* 

"Peace has been restored to the islands, and in a 
greater degree and over a larger area than at any 
period during the centuries the Archipelago was 
subject to the sovereignty of Spain." 

THE cj:ntral government and legislative 

AUTHORITY. 

During the term of military administration not a 
little was accomplished in preparation for organizing 
and establishing civil government. The first efforts 
of the Taft Commission were directed toward perfect- 
ing and extending this work under instructions from 
the President contained in a document dated April 7, 
1900. This state paper, which was prepared by Hon. 
Elihu Hoot, as Secretary of War, has been character- 



"*The following statements are a resume of a Senate Doc- 
ument (No. 304, Fifty-eighth Congress), printed from a 
report of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, dated 1904. 



206 THE PHIIJPPINES. 

ized by eminent authorities as ''the most nearly per- 
fect example of organic law, jurisprudence, guarding 
of rights, distribution of powers, administrative pro- 
visions, checks and balances, civilization ever beheld 
in a single document." It Avas a constitution, a code 
judicial, a system of laws ready made, statutes ad- 
ministrative, covering all the activities of a nation 
and meeting wants and solving problems innumerable. 
It was a masterly summing up of the governing ex- 
perience of the self-governing people of the world, 
adapted to^ and especially for, effective work in a given 
field. This ''Magna Charta" of the Philippines has 
furnished the groundwork for a civic machinery 
which, after an amazingly brief constructive period, 
is moving so smoothly and effectively as to excite the 
wonder and admiration of all who are acquainted 
with it. The first step in the process was the separa- 
tion of the various functions of government, pre- 
viously centred in the military authority. To the 
latter was continued, for the time being, the executive 
powers ; the legislative powers were conferred upon 
the Commission, and the judicial powers were trans- 
ferred to courts created by the action of the Commis- 
sion. 

The scope of the legislative authority conferred 
upon the Commission was defined in the instructions 
as follows: "Exercise of this legislative authority 
will include the making of rules and orders, having 
the effect of law, for the raising of revenue by taxes, 



INSULAR ADMINISTRATION. 207 

customs, and duties, and imposts; the appropriation 
and expenditure of public funds of the islands; the 
establishment of an educational system throughout 
the islands; the establishment of a system to secure 
an efficient civil service; the organization and estab- 
lishment of courts; the organization and establish- 
ment of municipal and departmental governments, 
and all other matters of a civil nature for which the 
military governor is now competent to provide by 
rules or orders of a legislative character.'^ 

From the outset the legislative sessions of the Com- 
mission have been public, and their enactments have 
been printed in the form of bills. Matters of general 
public interest have been discussed by committees 
before which natives have been called to express 
their views. Ordinary legislative opportunities for 
amendment have been afforded and bills and amend- 
ments have been publicly debated and voted upon, and 
when passed have had the force and effect of statutes. 

During the year following its inception, the Com- 
mission enacted 263 statutes, every one of which re- 
ceived the approval of Congress. 

In 1901 a further extension of civil government 
was effected by the transfer to the Commission of 
the executive authority over all the pacified prov- 
inces of the islands. The Hon. William II. Taft 
was appointed Governor, and separate executive de- 
partments were created and assigned to members of 
the Commission as follows: Department of the In- 



208 THE PHILIPPINES. 

terior. Dean C. Worcester ; Department of Commerce 
and Police, Luke E. Wright ; Department of Finance 
and Justice, Henry C. Ide ; Department of Public In- 
struction, Bernard Moses. 

At the same time, by appointment of the President, 
three distinguished Filipinos were added to the mem- 
bership of the Commission, namely, T. II. Pardo 
de Tavera, Benito Legarda and Jose Luzuriaga. 

The administrative duties of the government are 
distributed in the following apportionment : 

The Department of the Interior controls bureaus 
of health, forestry, mining, agriculture, fisheries, 
weather, public lands, ethnology, patents and copy- 
rights, quarantine service, government laboratories, 
and the marine-hospital corps. 

The Department of Commerce and Police embraces 
bureaus of inland and inter-island transportation, 
post-offices, telegraphs, coast and geodetic survey, en- 
gineering and construction of public works, other 
than public buildings, insular constabulary, prisons, 
light-houses, and all corporations, except banking. 

The Department of Finance and Justice directs 
the bureaus of the insular treasury, the insular audi- 
tor, customs and immigration, internal revenue, cold- 
storage and ice-plant, banks, banking, coinage and 
currency, and the bureau of justice. 

The Department of Public Instruction includes 
the bureaus of public instruction, public charities, 
public libraries and museums, statistics, public rec- 



INSULAR ADMINISTRATION. 209 

ords, government printing, arcliitecture, and construc- 
tion of public buildings. 

The powers of the judicial branch of the govern- 
ment are exercised by the Supreme Court, composed 
of seven members, appointed by the President, three 
of whom are Filipinos. All other judicial positions 
are filled by appointees of the Commission. At pres- 
ent fifteen Americans and six natives are judges of 
the courts of first instance. Practically all the judges 
of the minor courts are natives. 

Congress has vested in the government of the Phil- 
ippine Islands authority to exercise certain powers of 
sovereignty never before conferred upon any portion 
of the territory of the United States for the exclusive 
use and benefit of that territory. The Philippine 
government is authorized to impose duties upon goods 
coming to the islands from ports of the United States ; 
to issue its own distinctive currency and assume direc- 
tion and control of its postal service. Furthermore, 
Congress has conveyed to the government of the 
Philippine Islands all the public property, and the 
rights pertaining thereto, which passed from the 
crown of Spain to the United States of America. 

Following an election to be held April, 1906, the 
legislative power will become vested in a legislature 
consisting of two houses, to wit : The Philippine Com- 
mission and the Philippine Assembly, the members 
of the latter to be elected by the inhabitants of the 
islands. 

14 



210 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Pursuing the policy laid down in the instructions 
of the President, the Commission passed a general 
act for the organization of provincial governments. 
The municipality was made the political unit, and the 
entire territory of the islands is divided into munici- 
palities very similar to the townships in America. 
Up to the present the system has been applied to the 
thirty-four Christian provinces, except that the city 
of Manila is incorporated under a special charter. 
The provincial and municipal officials are elected by 
popular vote, exercised under liberal suffrage regula- 
tions. 

PKOVINCIAL AT^D MUTsTICIPAL GOVERNMENTS. 

The administration of each municipality is com- 
posed of a president, vice-president and a municipal 
council, chosen by the qualified electors of the munici- 
pality, to serve for two years. The franchise is ex- 
tended to those who (a) prior to August 13, 1898, 
held certain offices under the Spanish Cro^vn ; those 
who (b) own real property to the value of 500 pesos 
(a peso is now equivalent to fifty cents American 
money), or who pay annual taxes of thirty or more 
pesos; and those who (c) speak, read, and write Eng- 
lish or Spanish. 

The municipal government of the city of Manila 
closely resembles that of the city of Washington, but 
whilst the Federal Government pays one-half of the 
expenses in the latter case, in the former the con- 



PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS. 211 

tribution of the General Government is no more 
than three-tenths. The Municipal Board consists 
of three members (one of whom must be a Fili- 
pino) appointed by the Governor, with the approval 
of the Commission. There is also an Advisory 
Board, consisting of one member (appointed by the 
Governor, with the consent of the Commission) for 
each of the eleven districts of the city. The Advisory 
Board is charged with the duty of investigating the 
special needs of the municipality and its citizens, and 
of making such suggestions to the Municipal Board 
as it may deem necessary. All important matters of 
municipal legislation must be submitted to the former 
body before being acted upon. 

Under the general provincial law providing for the 
aggregation of several municipalities in larger admin- 
istrative divisions, the thirty-four Christian provinces 
were organized. The provincial government consists 
of five officers for each province (except that in some 
cases the offices of treasurer and supervisor are com- 
bined), namely, governor, treasurer, supervisor, secre- 
tary and fiscal, or prosecuting-attorney ; of these, the 
first three form the governing board. The functions 
of the provincial government include the collection of 
taxes, the construction of roads, bridges, and public 
buildings, and the supervision of municipal officers. 
It is the duty of the provincial governor to make visits 
twice a year to each of the towns in his province. He 
is responsible for the proper conduct of the municipal 
administrations, and he may remove any municipal 



212 THE PHILIPPINES. 

officer for cause. The provincial treasurer collects 
all the taxes, remits those due to the town to the 
municipal treasurer, and audits the accounts of that 
official. The supervisor, who must be a civil en- 
gineer, is charged with the execution of all public 
w^orks and the supervision of them. The fiscal acts 
as counsel for the governing board and for each of 
the municipalities in the province. The provincial 
governor is elected biennially by a convention com- 
posed of the counsellors of the municipalities in the 
province. The positions of treasurer and supervisor 
(usually filled by Americans) are subject to the civil 
service law and the positions of secretary and fiscal 
are filled by appointment of the Philippine Commis- 
sion. At this time all the provincial governors of 
the Christian provinces are duly elected Filipinos. 
The remaining provincial offices are filled by 86 
Americans and 238 natives. 

It will be noticed that the provincial and municipal 
governments conform very much in structure to the 
similar administrative branches under the Spaniards. 
It was wisdom on the part of the Commission to 
retain as nearly as possible the form of local govern- 
ment to which the natives w^ere accustomed, whilst 
giving them a greater share in the administration 
and a promise of honest and capable officials. 

The system is w^orking to the satisfaction of the 
people and of the Commission. Amongst upwards 
of twelve thousand Filipino municipal officials there 



ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 213 

have been remarkably few instances of misconduct 
and no case of a violation of the oath of office has 
been established against a president. 

The administration of the Moro province is 
especially designed to preserve as far as possible, 
consistently with the general policy applied to the 
Philippine Islands, the '^customs of the Moros, the 
authority of the Datos, and a system of justice in 
which the Moros shall take part," and to these ends 
a very large measure of discretion is allowed to the 
legislative council. That body consists of a governor, 
who is an officer of the U. S. Army, a secretary, at- 
torney, engineer, superintendent of schools, and treas- 
urer. The five remaining provinces, namely, Ben- 
guet, Lepanto-Bontoc, Mindoro, I^ueva Vizcaya, and 
Paragua, are inhabited for the most part by well-dis- 
posed though deeply ignorant tribes, to whom it would 
be impracticable, for the present, to extend any meas- 
ure of self-government. Consequently all the pro- 
vincial and municipal positions in these provinces are 
filled by appointment. The system under which they 
are governed, approximates, however, as closely as 
possible to that which obtains in the Christian prov- 
inces, and will be assimilated to it as rapidly as con- 
ditions justify. 

ADMIiq'ISTEATION" OF JUSTICE. 

A complete judicial system has been established by 
legislative enactment throughout the Archipelago. 



214 THE PHILIPPINES. 

"New codes of criminal law and procedure will shortly 
be enacted, with the effect of ''simplifying procedure 
and eliminating those provisions of the existing codes 
which pertain to the sovereignty of Spain, the union 
of church and state, the rigid restrictions on the ex- 
ercise of discretion by the judges, the giving to private 
individuals the right to control and compromise crim- 
inal prosecution, or to use such prosecutions for the 
purpose of blackmail and extortion, and the authority 
of the executive branch to control the courts." 

The judicial powers of the government are dis- 
tributed as follows : 

The territory of the Archipelago is divided into 
fifteen judicial districts, in each of which there is a 
court of first instance. A judge is assigned to each 
of these districts and four to the district of Manila. 
There are three additional judges to fill vacancies. 

The appellate jurisdiction is vested in the Supreme 
Court, which consists of seven members, three of 
whom are Filipinos. Provision is made for appeal 
from the supreme court of the islands to that of the 
United States. There is a justice of the peace and 
an auxiliary justice of the peace in each municipality. 
There are a court of customs appeals, a court of land 
registration, and registrars of deeds for each of the 
provinces. 

The attorney-general is an American, the solicitor- 
general a Filipino, and their assistants about equally 
divided between the two nationalities. 



Office of a Justice. 

A hearing before a justice of the peace in a country 
district, the prisoner guarded by native constabulary. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM. 215 

The civil service bill provides for the selection and 
promotion of civilians to government positions solely 
on the basis of merit. The chief preference is given 
to natives of the islands, and next, to honorably 
discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines of the United 
States. Examinations are made in the Philippines 
and also throughout the United States by the United 
States Civil Service Commission. From the first it 
has been found practicable to employ Filipinos ex- 
tensively in the provincial and municipal services 
where a knowledge of English was not essential, and 
with the progress made by them in acquiring that 
knowledge large numbers have been appointed to 
positions in the central government at Manila. With 
the exception of a few requiring special technical and 
professional knowledge, and the elective offices of the 
provinces, all government positions come within the 
scope of the civil-service act. 

It was the purpose of the Commission in passing 
the civil-service bill to provide a system which would 
secure the selection and promotion of civilian officials 
solely on the ground of merit, and would permit any 
one, by a successful competitive examination, to enter 
the service and by the efficient discharge of his duties 
reach the head of any important department of the 
government. 

• The Annals of the American Academy of Political 
and Social Science, May, 1902, contained the fol- 
lowing comment: 



216 THE PHILIPPINES, 

^'It is hard to see how our government of the Philip- 
pines could be started upon its path in any better way 
than by the excellent provisions established by the 
Philippine Commission. The reflex action upon our 
Government at home of the establishment of a com- 
plete merit system in the Philippines is sure to beget 
good results when contrasted with the inefficiency and 
corruption that flow from the remnants of the spoil 
system here at home. It will be remembered that 
England first tried competitive methods in her Indian 
possessions before she established the civil service 
system at home, and it was the successful working of 
this commission in India which led to its adoption in 
England. It may not be improper to repeat here 
the opinion expressed on a former occasion that inas- 
much as the beginnings of this reform came from Cal- 
cutta to London, it is not impossible nor unreasonable 
to expect that its perfect consummation may come 
from Manila to Washington." 

In support of the foregoing prediction it may be 
affirmed that there is no department of the United 
States Government more free from the corrupt prac- 
tices common to most administrations than those 
branches of it that pertain to the Philippine Islands. 
Whilst this is true to-day it might have been stated ten 
years ago wdth equal truth that in no part of the civil- 
ized world were such practices more prevalent than in 
the Philippine Islands. 
' The following table shows the distribution of 



CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM. 217 

government positions. It does not, however, include 
the Philippine Scouts, which body is on the establish- 
ment of the United States, nor the numerous unskilled 
employees of the various departments : 

Amerirans. Filipincc. 

Members of the Philippine Commission ... 5 3 

Justices of the Supreme Court 4 3 

Judges of the Courts of First Instance ... 16 7 
Judges of the Court of Customs Appeals.. 1 1 
Judges of the Court of Land Registration. 1 1 
Justices of the Peace and Auxiliary Jus- 
tices 1J08 

Civil Service of the General Government.. 1,777 2,697 

Governors of Provinces 8 32 

Other Provincial Officials 86 238 

Municipal Presidents (Mayors) 982 

Municipal Counselors 8,159 

Municipal Secretaries-Treasurers 2,906 

Total 1,898 16,737 

Municipal School Teachers 3,500 

Teachers of English 1,000 

Total 1,000 3,500 

Municipal Police 10,000 

Philippines Constabulary 345 7,000 

Total 345 17,000 



218 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The duty and expense of providing educational 
facilities for the Filipinos is assumed by the general 
government (augmented in some instances by munici- 
palities), and the work is carried on by a department 
of public instruction. About 3,500 natives and 1,000 
Americans are engaged as teachers, the latter in im- 
parting a knowledge of English to the former and in 
instructing classes of children. At present the de- 
partment maintains about 2,000 primary schools and 
38 secondary schools. In addition, the government 
conducts a number of technological institutions, in- 
cluding a trade school and an agricultural school. 
There is also a well-equipped nautical school, pri- 
marily for the purpose of educating officers for the 
inter-island merchant marine. Night schools in Ma- 
nila and other centers afford facilities to adults and 
the average attendance is recorded as 10,000 daily. 

FILIPINOS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

An enactment of the Commission made continuous 
provision for the education of a certain number of 
Filipinos in the United States. In accordance with 
its terms not fewer than 100 Filipinos are to be sent 
to America each year, to remain for a period of four 
years, during which time they will receive advanced 
instruction in various schools and colleges and will 
be afforded the widest facilities for acquiring any 
knowledge which may be useful to themselves and 
their people upon their return. This privilege is 



EDUCATION OF THE FILIPINOS. 219 

extended upon the condition that those who enjoy it 
will upon the completion of the educational term of 
four years submit to the competitive examination for 
the civil service, and upon appointment serve under 
the government for at least the length of time spent 
at its expense in the United States, but otherwise 
the benefaction is free of conditions or obligations. 

It is expected '^that the return of these people to 
the islands and the dissemination of information by 
them will have a most beneficial and far-reaching 
effect." 

It is impossible to subscribe to this sanguine con- 
clusion without qualification. The experience of all 
colonial governments has been that the most trouble- 
some element of a native population is the compara- 
tively small number who have received education, and 
particularly those who have been educated abroad. 
However, that is only one of the risks necessarily 
involved in the liberal policy the American Govern- 
ment has determined to pursue in the Philippines. 

In the last fiscal year the Bureau of Education 
expended 2,438,185 pesos in addition to the sums con- 
tributed by different municipalities and provinces for 
educational purposes. The amount of the Spanish 
expenditures on the same account in 1894 was 
404,731 pesos. 

- A complete system of currency has been estab- 
lished, which, by maintaining a fixed medium of ex- 
change, avoids the fluctuations which were such a 



220 THE PHILIPPINES. 

grave detriment to trade in former days. The silver 
coinage is based upon the decimal system and ranges 
in value from the ten-centavo piece to the one-peso 
piece. There is also a nickel coin of ^ve-centavos 
and bronze coins of one and one-half centavo. These 
coins have a fixed convertible value to the United 
States currency in the ratio of 2 to 1. A gold re- 
serve is maintained for the purpose of preserving 
this parity. The islands have a distinctive paper 
currency consisting of silver certificates in the de- 
nomination of two, five and ten 'pesos, bearing the 
vignettes respectively of Jose Kizal, McKinley. and 
Washington. During the Spanish regime the cur- 
rency of the Philippines was subject to the fluctu- 
ations of the silver bullion market, and the trade of 
the islands was effected by the varying influences of 
an ever-changing currency as well as an ever-changing 
rate of exchange. 

MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 

The Postal System has been extended to every part 
of the Archipelago, and mail is carried betAveen the 
several ofiices with promptness and regularity. The 
issuance of money orders has proved a great boon to 
the outlying districts which entirely lack banking 
facilities. There are more than 200 post-offices in 
the islands. The rate of postage is the same as in 
the United States. 

The extensive telegraph and telephone systems 



MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 221 

operated during the military occupation have been 
enlarged and improved, so that at present 8,000 miles 
of land and sea telegraph lines exist, connecting al- 
most every municipality with the seat of the central 
government. The new Pacific Cable connecting the 
United States with the islands will materially reduce 
the cost of messages and should prove of the utmost 
importance to commercial interests. 

Much labor and millions of money have been ex- 
pended upon the construction and improvement of 
highways imder the direction of army engineers. 
Although the work has been carried on under many 
adverse conditions, highly satisfactory progress has 
been made. The extensive system of railroads whose 
construction is in immediate prospect must prove a 
factor of the greatest importance in the development 
of economic and social conditions. 

The Archipelago has not as yet been completely 
surveyed, but the official estimate of 74,000,000 
acres doubtless expresses very closely its extent. 
About 5,000,000 acres of this area are owned by pri- 
vate individuals, the balance being public lands. 
The purchase of the friar lands by which 410,000 
acres passed to the government at a cost of $7,239,000, 
was an important measure from the politic as well 
as the economic point of view. The native occupants, 
who entertained the most bitter feelings toward their 
landlords, held their leases under conditions which 
precluded the possibility of development and pros- 



222 THE PHILIPPINES. 

perity. In the hands of the Commission these landa 
promise to be a source of profit to both the tenant and 
the State. 

Referring to this important matter, Governor Taft, 
in his report for the year 1903, says: 

^'It is thought that the results of these negotiations 
and the purchase of the lands form a most important 
step in the rehabilitation of the people of the islands 
and that the readjustment of their relations to the 
Roman Catholic Church, which cannot but be of ma- 
terial benefit in a political way to the insular and 
provincial governments. , . . We cannot prophesy 
that the adjustment wall rid us entirely of the agra- 
rian questions. There will be, doubtless, litigation 
and local centres of disturbance growing out of gov- 
ernment landlordism ; but the elimination of the friars 
from the question cannot but tend to greatly facilitate 
satisfactory adjustment. . . . The number of 
friars in the islands is rapidly diminishing from year 
to year, and with the adjustment of the land question 
and the division of the proceeds between the Orders 
and the Church and the use of the part belonging to 
the Roman Church for improvement of the Philippine 
church, we may reasonably hope that in a decade the 
agrarian and political question of the friars in the 
Philippines will have been completely removed from 
among the obstacles to good government with which 
the Americans, in coming to the islands and assum- 
ing control thereof, were confronted." 



INVESTIGATION OF RESOURCES. 223 

Extensive investigation of the resources of the 
islands has been conducted by the appropriate bureaus, 
and a mass of extremely valuable information has 
been published in the form of government reports. 
The forests prove to contain an enormous wealth of 
valuable timber and vegetable growth. The mineral 
and coal fields have been surveyed and laws favorable 
to their development have been enacted. In the de- 
partment of agriculture, which is the chief resource 
of the inhabitants, the most striking utilitarian results 
have been produced by a competent corps of scientific 
assistants. Experimental stations and model farms 
have been established, and steps taken, by means of 
quarantine establishments and serum laboratories, to 
stamp out rinderpest and other cattle diseases. A 
stock farm is in operation for the purpose of carry- 
ing on experiments in breeding with a view to pro- 
ducing farm animals especially adapted to the condi- 
tions of the Philippines. In order to alleviate the 
heavy losses from disease during the earlier years of 
American occupation, the government imported a 
great number of draft animals, chiefly carabao, which 
were sold to the farmers at less than cost. A move- 
ment to rehabilitate the coffee industry, which some 
ten years ago collapsed under insect blight, bids fair 
to restore to the islands what was formerly a very 
iniportant and profitable commercial enterprise. The 
agricultural college on the island of Kegros is doing a 
notable work in the education of native farmers to 
scientific agriculture 



224 THE PIIILirriNES. 

The tariff regulations were adopted only after the 
submission of the draft of the proposed legislation to 
the importers and exporters of Manila and of the 
United States. 

FOREIGN COMMERCE. 

With a view to the rapid development of the 
islands import duties (except upon luxuries) have 
been placed at low figures, lower, in fact, than 
those which prevailed during the Spanish regime, 
or those- in force in the United States. An act 
of Congress allows for a reduction of 25 per cent, 
of the Dingley tariff on imports into the United 
States from the Philippines, and further provides 
that all duties collected in the United States on arti- 
cles coming from the Philippines and also tonnage 
dues shall be remitted to the Philippine treasury for 
the benefit of the islands ; also that the Philippine 
government shall refund the export duties upon hemp 
and other products of the islands in the event they 
were exported to the United States. 

During the first five years of American adminis- 
tration the commerce of the Philippines increased 150 
per cent., from $25,000,000 in 1899 to $66,000,000 
in 1903. Despite agricultural depression the ex- 
ports have advanced during that period from $12,- 
000,000 to $33,000,000, leaving a balance of trade in 
favor of the islands. The passage of the act of Con- 
gress relating to customs, etc., enabled the United 
States immediately to displace the United Kingdom 
as the chief customer of the Philippine Islands. 



NAVIGATION, HEALTH. ETC. 225 

SOURCES OF REVENUE. 

The chief sources of revenue are customs receipts, 
from which approximately 80 per cent, of the whole 
is derived; internal revenue, including an industrial 
tax on all trades, professions, and arts; a land tax; 
registration taxes; etc. It may he stated that the 
postal service is nearly self-supporting. 

The total revenue for the fiscal year ending June 
30, 1903, amounted to $15,326,125, and the ex- 
penditures to $14,262,503. During the first five 
years of American occupation the revenue aggregated 
$49,915,944, and the expenditures $37,516,076. 

NAVIGATION^ HEALTH, ETC. 

Harhor improvements have heen carried out at 
Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, and other points, and extensive 
surveys of the more important harbors and gulfs have 
been completed under officers of the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey. An appropriation of 
$6,000,000 for the harbor of Manila is designed to 
increase greatly the accommodation of that port, and 
to enable vessels, from the shelter of a breakwater, 
to discharge cargoes at all seasons upon the docks, 
without the medium of lighterage, whereas formerly, 
during the monsoons, ships frequently lay for several 
days in the bay, incurring heavy demurrage, whilst 
awaiting a favorable opportunity to unload. 

An efficient coast-guard service has been estab- 

15 



226 THE PIIILirPINES. 

lished, with seventeen vessels, fifteen of which are new 
ones purchased by the Philippine government. In 
the matter of health and sanitation, the government 
encountered one of the most serious and difficult of 
the many problems presented by the condition of 
the islands when transferred to the United States. 
In spite, however, of indifference and in many cases 
active opposition, upon the part of the natives, meas- 
ures for the improvement of the health of Manila 
and the different provinces have been applied with 
vigor and the most remarkable results. Owing to 
compulsory vaccination, smallpox, formerly the great 
scourge of the islands, has ceased to be an important 
factor in the death rate. The ability of the board of 
health to cope with serious emergencies was severely 
tested by the cholera epidemic, which broke out over 
a wide area in 1902. Many of the towns affected 
were without medical aid, or any knowledge of means 
of checking the plague. ^Nevertheless, by prompt and 
energetic action the attack was eradicated in less than 
a year. The magnitude of the operations of the 
board of health on this occasion may be judged from 
the fact that its expenditures were considerably in 
excess of 1,000,000 pesos. Hospitals, dispensaries, 
detention wards, and their appropriate auxiliaries, 
have been established and an efficient quarantine serv- 
ice is maintained. At Benguet, in the highlands, a 
sanatarium has been established by the government for 
the recuperation of civilians and soldiers. As a so- 



MANILA. 227 

journ at Bengiiet produces results equally good with 
those following transfer to the United States, great 
saving in time and money, it is believed, will be 
effected by the institution. 

MANILA. 

Manila is the seat of central government and the 
commercial centre of the islands. Its system of 
municipal administration is based upon that of the 
city of Washington. The streets, which formerly were 
frequently submerged during heavy rains, have been 
elevated, graded, widened and paved. The bridges 
across the Pasig have been improved and an addition 
made to them by a fine double bridge of the latest pat- 
tern. The water supply has been increased and im- 
proved. Under Spanish rule Manila was entirely 
destitute of sewage accommodation. The deficiency 
has been remedied by the installation of an adequate 
system, in course of extension. Modern market build- 
ings have displaced the aggregations of native huts, 
which represented the trading marts of Spanish days. 
An electric road of forty-five miles has solved the 
problem of transportation in the widely-straggling 
city. The corporation which operates this railroad 
will supply electric light and power to the munici- 
pality. The antiquated and wholly inadequate fire 
department maintained by the Spaniards has been 
transformed into a first-class fire department, with an 
ample supply of up-to-date apparatus. The city is 



228 THE PHILIPPINES. 

excellently policed by natives under the supervision 
of Americans. The public parks have been improved 
and enlarged, and a plot of land set aside for a 
botanical garden. 

BOIS'DED II^DEBTEDNESS. 

The finances of the islands have been managed with 
the utmost skill and economy. The funded debt has, 
paradoxical as the statement may appear, been so 
far a source of profit. Under the Spanish Crown 
the debt of the islands was $40,000,000. This was 
disposed of by the purchase and the payment by the 
United States of $20,000,000. The present obliga- 
tions of the Philippine islands, the rates of interest 
paid upon them and the premiums received are shown 
in the following table: 

Character of Loan. Interest. Premium. 

First issue one-year certificates, $3,000,000. $120,000 $75,390 
Second issue one-year certificates, $3,000,- 

000 120,000 67,200 

Bonds for tlie purchase of friar lands, 

$7,000,000 280,000 530,370 

Distributing the premium of the friar lands bonds 
over the redemption period of ten years, the net an- 
nual interest charge is reduced to 3.1 per cent. 

The net interest charge upon the government for 
its funded debt is $224,410, a rate of about 2.25 per 
cent, of the customs receipts, the principal revenue 
of the islands. No other country in the world can 



BONDED INDEBTEDNESS. 229 

boast that the interest on its public debt is offset by 
such a small percentage of its revenue. In France, 30 
per cent, of the gross revenue is required to meet the 
interest on the national debt; in Great Britain, 19 
per cent. ; in the United States, 5 per cent, without 
taking into account State indebtedness. In the Phil- 
ippines the funded debt amounts to $1.62 per capita, 
and the annual interest charge to four cents per 
capita ; in the United States the first item is in ex- 
cess of $12, the second of 30 cents ; in Great Britain 
the figures are $90 and $3 ; in France, $150 and $6. 

^' There are few, if any, civilized States, moreover, 
which have so much to show as the Philippines for 
the debt which they have incurred. A part represents 
a substantial asset in gold in the custody of banks and 
trust companies in New York. The other part repre- 
sents the acquisition of the best lands in the Philip- 
pine Islands, which the Government has acquired 
from the friars, in order to give them back to their 
natural cultivators, the people of the islands. Both of 
these debts will be subject to reduction in the course 
of events without levying taxes or providing a sinking 
fund. In the case of the $6,000,000, which has been 
appropriated temporarily to meet the expenses of 
inaugurating the new coinage system, half of the 
amount w^ll be no longer necessary when the system 
is completed. The money was made available simply 
for the purpose of covering capital tied up in bullion 
in transit from the mines to the completed coin." 



230 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The taking of the Philippine Census of 1903 was 
an act of the greatest importance and in more than 
one respect an extraordinary achievement. The work 
was undertaken in accordance with an act of Con- 
gress approved July 1, 1902, which provided ''that 
whenever the existing insurrection shall have ceased 
and a condition of general and complete peace shall 
have been established therein .... the Presi- 
dent, upon being satisfied thereof, shall order a cen- 
sus of the Philippine Islands to be taken by said 
Philippine Commission; such census in its enquiries 
relating to the population shall take and make, so far 
as practicable, full report of all the inhabitants, of 
name, age, sex, race, or tribe, whether native or for- 
eign born, literacy in Spanish, native dialect or lan- 
guage, or in English; school attendance, ownership 
of homes, industrial and social statistics, and such 
other information, separately for each island, each 
province and municipality, or other civil division, as 
the President and such commission may deem neces- 
sary." 

POLITICAL OBJECT OF CENSUS. 

The chief political object of the census was set 
forth in the following words : 

''That two years after the completion and publica- 
tion of the census, in case such condition of general 
and complete peace with recognition of the authority 
of the United States shall have continued in the terri- 



Manila Hkmf. 

'J'his picture depicts the preparation of Manila hemp, 
or abaca, for shipment at Cebu. In the background 
is one of the many vessels that ply between the capital 
and various insular ports. 

From Stereoirraph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New V'ork. 



CENSUS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 231 

tory of said islands not inhabited by Moros, or 
other non-Christian tribes, . . . the President 
upon being satisfied thereof shall direct said Com- 
mission to call, and the Commission shall call, a gen- 
eral election for the choice of delegates to a popular 
assembly of the people of said territory in the Philip- 
pine Islands, which shall be known as the Philippine 
Assembly. After said assembly shall have convened 
and organized, all the legislative power heretofore 
conferred on the Philippine Commission in all that 
part of said islands not inhabited by Moros, or other 
non-Christian tribes, shall be vested in a legislature 
consisting of two houses — the Philippine Commission 
and the Philippine Assembly. Said assembly shall 
consist of not less than 50, nor more than 100, mem- 
bers, to be apportioned by said Commission among 
the provinces as nearly as practicable according to 
population." 

The censuses effected under the Spanish Govern- 
ment were little more than mere enumerations, and 
even as such were very far from being complete or 
reliable. Their main object was to form a basis for 
taxation and conscription. They were, therefore, 
highly unpopular with the masses, who obstructed 
and misinformed the enumerators. It was to be ex- 
pected that the agents of the American Government 
would experience similar difficulties, if not greater, 
on account of the recently disturbed state of the coun- 
try. However, the Commission boldly essayed the 



232 THE PHILIPPINES. 

task, voluntarily increasing its magnitude, and delib- 
erately choosing the most arduous, though also the 
most effective, method for its accomplishment. The 
outcome was a triumph for the Commission and a 
complete refutation of the predictions of pessimists 
at home and in the islands. 

A MODEL PKOCLAMATIOIS'. 

It was also a thorough justification of the confi- 
dence Governor Taft has always been ready to place 
in the Filipinos when appealed to in the right way. 
His proclamation upon this occasion, simple, concil- 
iatory and logical, was unquestionably a potent factor 
in the result. As a pattern for the style of public 
document which is most effective with a people like 
the Filipinos it is well worth quoting: 

"In accordance with the policy of President Mc- 
Kinley, announced in his instructions of April 7, 
1900, the Philippine Commission has extended to the 
people of the Philippine Islands complete autonomy 
in the matter of municipal government, and partial 
autonomy in the matter of provincial government. 
By actual experience the qualified electors of the 
Philippine Islands are learning the science of self- 
government. The policy of the late President Mc- 
Kinley has been sincerely adopted and followed by 
President Roosevelt ; and the aim of the Commission 
in accordance with his instructions, gradually to ex- 
tend self-government to the people of the islands, was 



A MODEL PROCLAMATION, 233 

approved and adopted by the Congress of the United 
States at its last session, in the so-called Philippine 
Act, by which provision was made for the election 
of a popular Philippine assembly within two years 
after the taking of a comprehensive census of the 
Philippine Islands. The taking of the census is in- 
dispensable to the calling of a general election for 
this popular assembly. Xo other object besides the 
collection of the necessary data for determining the 
social and industrial conditions of the people, as the 
basis of intelligent legislative action, is involved in 
the taking of this census. By the terms of the census 
law, passed by the Philippine Commission, it will be 
seen that the census is to be largely in the hands and 
under the control of the Filipinos. The taking of 
the census will therefore form a test of the capacity 
of the Filipinos to discharge a most important func- 
tion of government. The information secured by the 
census will form the basis upon which capital will be 
invested in the islands and the material prosperity of 
the people brought about. The census, therefore, is 
to be taken solely for the benefit of the Filipino peo- 
ple, and if they desire to have a larger voice in their 
own government wdthin the near future, if they de- 
sire to demonstrate to the world a growing capacity 
for self-government, and if they would aid the in- 
vestment of capital and the improvement of their 
material condition they should lend their unanimous 
support to the successful taking of the census." 



234 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The same proclamation appointed March 2, 1903, 
as ' 'census clay/' and upon that date the work began 
simultaneously in every part of the Archipelago. 

AMEKICAN CEIs^SUS METHODS FOLLOWED. 

It had been determined, in dealing with the Chris- 
tain, or civilized peoples, to adopt the American 
method of census taking, which is the most compre- 
hensive extant, and much more efficient than any 
method which had ever been applied to an Oriental 
people. Its operation required, in addition to the 
Bureau force, a specially appointed corps of super- 
visors, special agents, special enumerators, and enu- 
merators with sufficient intelligence to collect the de- 
sired statistics. It also required the division of the 
country into supervisors' districts, having clearly- 
defined geographical limits, and these into equally 
well-defined enumerators' districts. Here the first 
and a very serious obstacle was encountered in the 
lack of provincial or municipal maps. This difficulty 
was overcome by requiring the presidents of munici- 
palities to return diagrams of their respective town- 
ships showing the relative location and the approxi- 
mate distance of each harrio from the main barrio or 
seat of municipal government and, if possible, the 
area of the municipality. Under the authority to col- 
lect ^'such other information" as mis'ht be deemed 
necessary the Commission decided to add to the data 
specified by Congress the statistics of schools, agri- 



NOVEL EXPERIENCE OF CENSUS AGENTS, 235 

culture, manufactures, railroads, fishing, mining, tele- 
graph, express transportation, insurance, and bank- 
ing, so that the extent of inquiry of this census 
of the Philippines was almost as wide as that of the 
Twelfth Census of the United States. 

The governors of provinces and the presidents and 
councilmen of municipalities were employed as far 
as possible. Amongst the Moros and other wild 
tribes of Mindanao it was thought advisable, to employ 
officers of the army. The total number of persons en- 
gaged in taking the Census w^as 7,627, of whom 118 
were Americans, 7,642 native men and 40 native 
women, 1 Japanese and 6 Chinese. The work every- 
where progressed smoothly. Three enumerators were 
attacked by ladrones, but, with this exception, there 
was no opposition to the census, and the fact may be 
accepted as significant of the attitude of the masses 
toward the American Government as represented by 
the Commission. 

NOVEL EXPERIENCE OF CENSUS AGENTS. 

The experience of many of the census agents was 
interesting and instructive, especially in dealing with 
the wild tribes. The Supervisor of ^ueva Vizcaya 
said: ''The Igorots are very slow to move, and do not 
count beyond ten ; after that it is so many tens up to 
one hundred, and beyond one hundred is an incom- 
prehensible figure to them which they never enter 
into. The system adopted by me was to send enumer- 



236 THE PHILIPPINES. 

ators some days ahead to advise the Igorots of what 
we wanted, and get them to count their houses, people, 
and domestic animals, and measure by a sample stick 
given them the land owned and cultivated by each 
family. They counted the animals and people by 
making notches on rattan sticks and bringing one 
bundle to represent the men, one bundle for the 
women, one for the chickens, pigs and so on, together 
with the ];iame of the settlement." 

Major Kennon in the Iligan district found the 
Moros anything but communicative. He stated that 
^^a considerable amount of diplomacy was necessary 
in order to overcome their suspicions. One of the 
sultans of the district refused absolutely to give any 
information whatever. I reasoned with him in every 
way, but could get nothing from him — not even his 
objections. At last I told him that we were not ob- 
taining the data for the purpose of putting a tax 
on his people. At this he opened up somewhat ; and 
when I spoke of the customs of the people and of the 
intention of the Americans to leave all minor ques- 
tions of that character to the people, it seemed that 
I had found the basis of his objections. He bright- 
ened up at once and said he had feared that we wanted 
to make them dress like white f ollvS and Filipinos ; 
that we wanted to make them wear shoes and hats 
and to cut off their hair. Reassured on this point, he 
readily gave all the information desired.'' 

Another report from a Moro district says: ^'The 



GREAT SCOPE OF THE CENSUS. 237 

Moro has some excellent qualities, but appreciation of 
the value of time is certainly not one of them. The 
asking of the most necessary questions, or the obtain- 
ing answers to them, would frequently take up a 
full hour of our time at one Moro's house. 
Again, some of the necessary questions the Moros 
wouldn't answer at all ; for instance, no Moro will 
tell his own name under any circumstances." This 
difficulty was possibly overcome by asking each man 
the name of his neighbor. 

GKEAT SCOPE OF THE CENSUS. 

The results of the census are contained in four 
large volumes aggregating about 2,500 pages.* It 
brought to light a great deal of new information of a 
valuable nature and corrected many errors and mis- 
conceptions. In addition to the statistical tables and 
analytical text, the publication includes a number of 
pertinent articles, mostly contributed by natives, the 
whole making a complete and accurate presentation of 
the islands and their inhabitants. Some of the facts 
strikingly brought out by the census are as follows: 
The Spanish estimate of the number of Moros was 
far in excess of the actual figure, and the number of 
Chinese in the islands has been greatly exaggerated. 
The census gives a total of 41,000 for the latter. 
Practically all the people are engaged in agriculture 
of some form, but the area under cultivation is 

♦ Census of the Philippine Islands. Washington, 1905. 



238 THE PHILIPPINES. 

small compared to the whole. Applying the standard 
of ability to speak, read, and write Spanish, but 1.6 
per cent, of the civilized population may be consid- 
ered educated. The statistics support the statement 
that the climate of the Philippine Islands is salubri- 
ous and healthful, and the reports of the Surgeon- 
General of the Army point to the same conclusion. 
Conspicuous facts are the entire absence of hospitals, 
except in a few large cities ; the existence of but twelve 
public libraries, with 4,019 volumes, the great pre- 
ponderance of churches, the small number of news- 
papers, and the comparatively small number of pau- 
pers and criminals. The data concerning insurance, 
banks, telegraph lines, and express, show the need 
rather than the existence of these forms of indus- 
try. The same may be said of roads and railways. 
On the other hand, great improvements, expected and 
in prospect, are shown in the facilities for water trans- 
portation. The schedule relating to mechanical in- 
dustries exhibits the limited extent of manufactures 
and the excellent opportunities for investment in that 
direction. The report makes it very apparent that 
the great need of the Philippines now is moral, 
material, and industrial improvement commensurate 
with their political condition. 



COMMERCE. 



VI. 

COMMERCE. 

Traffic with Mexico — Early Commercial Enterprises — The 
Colony Opened to the Trade of the World — A Review of 
Philippine Commerce^-The Import Trade — The Export 
Trade — Manila Hemp — The Sugar Industry — Tobacco 
— Copra — Coffee — The Transportation Problem. 

It will be remembered that the conquest and coloni- 
zation of the Philippine Islands were effected from 
Mexico, and the islands continued to be a sort of 
dependency of the older possession. Regular com- 
munication was established between the two countries 
by means of State galleons which made a voyage to 
and fro once a year. The service was established in 
1611 and maintained until 1815. The State Nao 
carried from one to four million dollars worth of 
specie and merchandise and transported officials and 
despatches. For a long period it was the only stated 
means of communication between the colony and the 
mother country. The vessels were squat, tub-like 
four-deckers, with great elevation fore and aft. They 
carried cannon and men-at-arms. 

Until about the middle of the nineteenth century 

the Philippines had no distinctive currency, and in 

the early days there was no coin of any kind in the 

islands. Taxes were paid in kind and stored in 

16 ( 241 ) 



242 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Manila to await the periodical calls of tlie Chinese 
traders, with whom they were bartered; The Chinese 
wares and manufactures thns acquired were shipped 
to Mexico for sale on account of the Royal Treasury. 
In return a certain sum of money, termed the Real 
SituadOj or Royal Allowance, was yearly furnished 
to the Insular Government for the maintenance of 
the administration. Theoretically these transactions 
balanced, but as a matter of fact there was always a 
deficit in the revenues, which could not have been 
made up without the subsidy. 

TKAFFIC WITH MEXICO. 

The available space in the vessel, after the royal 
shipment had been accommodated, was placed at the 
disposal of a close corporation of merchants called 
the Consulado. The value of their annual shipments 
was at first limited to $250,000, the return for which 
could not legally exceed $500,000 in cash, being one 
hundred per cent, profit, the amount realized for 
many years on these ventures. The value of the 
merchandise that might be shipped in this manner 
was increased from time to time, ultimately reach- 
ing $750,000. It always remained nominally under 
regulation, but the restrictions upon it were con- 
stantly evaded. The commerce of the islands was 
for two centuries limited to this traffic with Mexico. 
The merchants were permitted to engage in trade to 
the extent of buying such productions of China, 



TRAFFIC WITH MEXICO. 243 

India, and Persia, as might be brought to the Philip- 
pines, and transhipping them to 'New Spain. These, 
and the produce of the Archipelago, were the only 
kinds of merchandise in which they might deal, and 
they were only allow^ed to acquire foreign goods from 
traders who brought them to the islands. 

Thus the Naos de Acapulco were not only the sole 
channel for the trade of the Archipelago, but also the 
sole source of money for the use of the Government 
and the people. It followed that any derangement 
of the regular sailings caused serious injury to the 
Colony. Shipwreck and tempest not infrequently 
disposed of the galleons and many of them fell prizes 
to Spain's naval enemies, the English and Dutch, en- 
tailing heavy losses upon the Royal Treasury and the 
private shippers, besides depriving the Philippines 
of their necessary supplies of coin. The voyages of 
the galleons were sometimes interrupted for two or 
three years at a time, and it happened once that five 
years elapsed between the departure of one nao and 
the arrival of the next. The consequent dearth of 
currency caused great misery. Early in the eight- 
eenth century the merchants of southern Spain com- 
plained that their trade to Mexico was seriously im- 
paired by the imports to that country from the 
Philippines of Chinese fabrics. As a consequence of 
their urgent representations to the King restrictions 
were placed upon the trade of the islands to the great 
detriment of their merchants. The operation of these 



244 THE PHILIPPINES. 

impediments and the expulsion of the non-Christian 
Chinese in 1755 caused a marked decline in the com- 
merce of the Archipelago. At this period the only 
exports of native produce were sugar, cacao, wax, 
and sapanwood. 

EARLY COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES. 

Following the banishment of the Chinese an at- 
tempt was made by the Spanish merchants to con- 
centrate the entire trade of the islands in their own 
hands. An official order closed the shop of every 
Chinaman, and a company was formed with the inten- 
tion of monopolizing the trade in the produce of the 
Philippines and the staple imports. The project 
looked promising, but it met with failure, owing 
chiefly to the inability of the Spaniards to secure 
from the Chinese traders as favorable terms as the 
latter had made with their countrymen. 

About the same time a commercial corporation 
named the '^Compania Guipuzcoana de Caracas'' was 
created by Royal charter wdth certain privileges. 
The company enjoyed a practical monopoly of the 
trade between the Philippines and ISTew Spain which 
was still carried on through the medium of the State 
galleons. This venture was not a success, and the 
charter was surrendered in 1753. 

A much more pretentious undertaking was the 
*'Real Compania de Filipinas/' This company was 
authorized by Royal charter dated March the 10th, 



EARLY COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES. 245 

1785, with a paid-up capital of $8,000,000, in 32,000 
shares of $250 each. King Charles the Third sub- 
scribed for 4,000 shares ; 3,000 shares were reserved 
for residents of Manila, and the remainder was taken 
up in the Peninsula. 

The new company avoided the inter-colonial trade 
and devoted itself to the development of commerce 
between the islands and Europe and Asia. It was 
the first time that such a traffic had been attempted, 
or, indeed, permitted, and, considering the extremely 
favorable conditions of its inception, the enterprise 
should have had different results. 

By the terms of its charter the ''Real Compania de 
FiUpinas" enjoyed the exclusive privilege of trade 
between the Philippines and the mother country, ex- 
cepting such as passed between Manila and Acapulco, 
and it was allowed to import the produce of the 
islands free of duty. The company was further pro- 
tected by a prohibition against foreign vessels carry- 
ing goods from Europe to the Archipelago. 

All restrictions against the importation to Spain of 
the productions of China, India, and Japan, were 
abrogated in favor of the company. The pre-exist- 
ing prohibition against direct traffic with China, and 
India, was removed to permit the Manila merchants 
and the company's ships to call at Chinese ports. 

The company had the privilege of acquiring for- 
eign-built vessels within two years of the date of its 
incorporation and of entering them under the Spanish 
flag free of fees. 



246 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The company could enter, duty free, all material 
needed for fitting out its ships and all supplies for 
their use. 

In consideration of its charter and special conces- 
sions the company undertook to support and develop 
Philippine agriculture, and to expend, with this oh- 
ject, four per cent, of its net profits. 

Despite its extraordinary advantages this great 
trading corporation v^as never prosperous. The op- 
portunities for ^^graft" afforded by a concern of its 
magnitude were great, and of course were not neg- 
lected. Influence was exerted to secure lucrative 
and important positions for incapables, and general 
extravagance characterized the management. The 
system of making advances to irresponsible cultiva- 
tors, which has become a fixed feature of agricultural 
methods in the Philippines, was instituted by the 
Real Compania and proved to be one of the chief fac- 
tors in its failure. Lacking the right to enforce labor, 
it is difficult to see how the company could have con- 
trived any very considerable development of the coun- 
try, otherwise than by making loans as an inducement 
to the extension of cultivation. Vast sums were 
expended in this direction, for a considerable propor- 
tion of which little or no return was received. 

The exclusive conditions under which the company 
operated tended to make smuggling a highly lucrative 
occupation, and the contraband traffic, which before 
the introduction of steamships was very difficult to 



OPENED TO THE TRADE OF THE WORLD. 247 

suppress, seriously impaired the profits of the Real 
Compania. In 1825 the company's affairs were at 
so low an ebb as to seriously threaten a collapse. For 
the time this was averted by increasing the capital 
in the amount of $12,500,000. This could not, how- 
ever, correct the inherent weaknesses of the enter- 
prise, and in 1830 it was found necessary to revoke 
the charter of the ''Eeal Compania de Filipinas/' 

THE COLONY OPENED TO THE TRADE OF THE WORLD. 

ISTotAvithstanding its disastrous ending the Real 
Compania had not lived in vain. Although the 
defunct corporation had lost the money of its share- 
holders its operations resulted in the iTtmost benefit 
to the islands. It gave a great impetus to agricul- 
ture and commerce, and was a potent factor in the 
prosperity of the Archipelago, which distinctly dates 
its commencement from this period. It also led the 
way to the removal of the crippling restrictions 
under which the trade of the Philippines had stag- 
gered up to this time. 

In the year 1834 the port of Manila was thrown 
open to the trade of the world, marking an epoch in 
the history of the Philippines. 

The Spanish authorities have always displayed a 
suspicious reluctance to admit foreign merchants 
-to the country, and up to the last many officials 
entertained the opinion that the presence of aliens 
was prejudicial to the interests of the Colony. Pre- 
vious to the opening of that port, permission to estab- 



248 THE PHILIPPINES. 

lish a mercantile house in Manila was seldom secured, 
and never without great difficulty, by outsiders. In 
1844 a Royal decree was issued excluding foreigners 
from the interior, and as late as 1857 an attempt 
was made to enforce old laws against the establish- 
ment of foreigners in the Archipelago. Yet it is to 
foreign capital and enterprise that the commerce of 
the Philippines owes its permanent foundation, and 
the majority of the Spanish and native merchants 
found the beginnings of their business in the same 
sources. There was no Spanish capital in the islands, 
nor, after the failure of the Real Compania de 
Filipinos, any prospect of its coming there from 
Spain. 

Foreign trade was hampered by burdensome regu- 
lations. The import duties on merchandise carried 
by foreign ships were double those imposed on goods 
brought by Spanish vessels. The tonnage charges on 
foreign ships laden with cargoes were double those 
on such ships in ballast, and if one of the latter landed 
but a small parcel the extra rate was exacted. These 
ridiculous port charges were abolished in 1869. 

The commerce of the islands from its commence- 
ment until 1834 was centered in Manila, where the 
only custom house was located. After that year other 
ports of entry were created. 

The currency of the islands has always been in a 
disorganized condition and subject to the fluctuations 
incident to a silver basis. The banking facilities were 



NASCENT PERIOD OF COMMERCE. 249 

inadequate, and are not yet fully equal, to the require- 
ments of business. 

OPENED TO THE TRADE OF THE WORLD. 

Under the Spaniards no attempt was made to de- 
velop manufactures, with the single exception of 
cigars, and the lack of cheap and convenient land 
transportation militated against such development. 
The entire export trade of the islands depended upon 
the raw produce of the soil and the forest, which will 
always be the chief sources of wealth, although there 
is no doubt that the mechanical and mining industries 
will in time take a prominent place in the economy 
of the country. The first half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury was the nascent period of Philippine commerce. 
Its germination during two centuries had been a slow 
process checked by hampering regulations and cum- 
bering conditions. Several circumstances acted at 
about the same time to relieve the trade of the most 
serious of these impediments and to give it a strong 
impetus. The most important of these favorable con- 
ditions were the operations of the "Real Compania de 
Filipinas'' the cessation of restriction of export to 
the State galleons, the removal of the prohibition 
against direct trading with China ; the abolition of 
the nao service ; the independence of Mexico and the 
consequent establishment of direct traffic between 
the Philippines and Spain ; and, most effective of all, 
the opening of Manila to the free commerce of the 
world. 



250 THE PHILIPPINES. 

A REVIEW OF PHILIPPINE COMMERCE. 

Fifty years ago the Philippines were hardly kno^\Ti 
in the commercial centres of Europe, and its produce 
was not a factor in mercantile calculations. During 
the last half century, and especially since the opening 
of the Suez Canal in 1870, the trade of the islands 
has made great strides, and whilst still in its infancy, 
has given reliable indications of the possibility of im- 
mense development in the future. A review^ of 
the commerce of the Philippines during the past fifty 
years is rendered somewhat difficult by the incomplete- 
ness of the Spanish records and the impossibility of 
tracing shipments to their ultimate source and des- 
tination through Hongkong, which is a free tran- 
shipment port and clearing-house for Oriental traffic. 
Following 1855, for several years these shipments 
seem to have been credited to China ; then for another 
period of years to the ^'British Possessions'' ; and 



* The following is a summary of the "Historical review 
and analysis of trade under Spanish and American occupa- 
tion" contained in the Monthly Summary of Commerce of 
the Philippine Islands, December, 1904, prepared by the 
Bureau of Insular Affairs, Washington, D. C. The series 
of monthly summaries issued by the Bureau includes a de- 
tailed report of the trade of the Philippines, supplemented 
by instructive articles pertinent to the subject. It is a highly 
valuable publication to the merchant, or shipper, whose 
business relations in any way involve the trade, or indus- 
tries, of the Archipelago. 



PHILIPPINE COMMERCE. 251 

finally, during the last six years of Spanish occupa- 
tion, they again figure as Chinese trade. 

A noticeable fact is that the exports have averaged 
in excess of the imports until recent years. In 1855 
the export trade amounted to six millions and the 
import to five and, with occasional exception and 
variation in the proportions, this general condition 
obtained up to the termination of Spanish sovereignty. 
During this period the trade of the islands reached 
high water mark in 1880 and remained about station- 
ary for the remaining fifteen years. 

The prevailing balance of trade has been entirely 
subverted under the American administration. Both 
imports and exports have increased greatly, the 
former being nearly doubled. In the past five years 
the apparently adverse balance was : Two millions in^ 
1900 ; five and a half millions in 1901 ; nearly five 
millions in 1902 ; one and a half millions in 1903 ; 
less than half a million in 1901 ; and a practical equi- 
librium was reached in 1905. Whilst the balance of 
trade is generally an indication of the prosperity, 
or otherwise, of a nation whose industrial economy is 
established, it is not a safe criterion in the case of 
an undeveloped country in a process of reformation. 
That the industrial energies of the people of the Phil- 
ippines have been greatly stimulated contemporary 
with American occupation, in spite of insurrectionary 
disorders and misfortunes beyond human control, is 
evidenced by the large increase in exports. These, 



252 THE PHILIPPINES. 

during the last five recorded years of Spanish rule, 
averaged a scant twenty millions of dollars and can 
not be assumed to have increased appreciably during 
the years following, in view of the fact that they 
had remained virtually stationary at this average 
since 1880. Yet in the American quinquennial 
period 1900-1904 these average exports of twenty 
millions became about twenty-seven and a half mil- 
lions, and testify to the stimulated productiveness and 
increased purchasing power of the islands. 

The explanation of the recent reversal of the bal- 
ance of trade is not far to seek. During the five-year 
period in question the scale of wages throughout the 
islands has largely increased and is said to average 
double what it was a decade ago. This, in connection 
with the enhanced prosperity denoted by the export 
figures, would naturally imply an increase in the pur- 
chasing power and inclinations of the masses. The 
presence of the army has been an important factor 
in producing the result in question. At the time of 
the heaviest import balances, there were from fifty to 
seventy thousand American soldiers in the Archi- 
pelago, whose pay for the most part was expended 
upon articles of foreign manufacture. Another 
potent factor in the exceptional imports is to be 
found in the item of ordinary supplies for a govern- 
ment conducted upon a much more liberal scale as re- 
gards public works and improvements than was its 
predecessor. A large proportion of these imports 



THE IMPORT TRADE. 253 

were in the nature of permanent investments, and in 
an analysis carried to ultimate conclusions would be 
properly placed to the credit account. 

It is not probable that the heavy relative credits in 
favor of exports in former years will again prevail, 
nor is it desirable that they should. A smaller bal- 
ance, with larger investments of export proceeds in 
permanent improvements to increase production and 
raise the standard of living in the islands would 
make a more creditable showing than the large bal- 
ances of the closing years of Spanish rule, which 
seem to have utterly disappeared without conferring 
any permanent benefit upon the country. Europe 
and Asia have been the chief sources of import, in 
approximately equal values, with America figuring 
almost insiffnificantlv until 1900. It is a remarkable 
coincidence that the opening of the Suez Canal, which 
would naturally have been calculated to expand Euro- 
pean shipments, marks a decided increase in the Ori- 
ental traffic, which, from that time, gained a lead 
over Europe and maintained it for many years. The 
present Oriental trade averages about thirteen mil- 
lions of the thirty million total; Europe contributes 
about twelve millions and the United States prac- 
tically the balance. 

THE IMPORT TRADE. 

Of the European countries, the United Kingdom 
and Spain have been responsible for the bulk of the 



254 THE PHILIPPINES. 

inward sliipments. The former has heen by far the 
most regular importer to the Philippines during the 
fifty years. In the pre-Suez period half the imports 
of the islands was due to her. The opening of the 
Canal brought no apparent increase to the British 
trade, but it is possible that some portion of her ship- 
ments may be lost to sight in the Hongkong credits. 
The record as applied to Great Britain is strikingly 
uniform, showing a steady, but moderate, increase. 
In the pre-Suez period the United Kingdom receives 
credit for an average of four millions in a total of 
seven and a half, and in the term from 1880 to 1904 
her shipments have remained in the neighborhood of 
five millions annually, although the aggregate im- 
ports have quadrupled in the meantime. 

The imports of Spain, whilst second in the Euro- 
pean list, rarely amounted to one million prior to 
1885. From that date they began to show a material 
increase, and under the protection of the tariff of 
1891 her shipments grcAV to five millions, and ex- 
ceeded those of the United Kingdom in 1894. Dur- 
ing the period of American administration the im- 
ports of Spain have dropped back to an average of 
about two millions. 

The import trade of Germany with the Philippines 
has shown a gradual growth, from small beginnings, 
during the half century, but seldom reached a value 
of one million dollars previous to 1900. Since that 
date, however, the annual average of German ship- 
ments has exceeded one and three-quarter millions. 



The Busy PasKt. 

Looking towards the city from the lighthouse at the 
entrance to the river. Only vessels of light draft, such 
as the int^r-island schooners, can come up to these 
wharves, 

l>om Stereoarraph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood. New ^"ork. 



THE IMPORT TRADE. 255 

The figures for France have averaged in excess of 
two millions for the past five years, although they 
were comparatively insignificant in former times. 

The American import trade with the islands, for- 
merly of little consequence, has leaped into a leading 
place in recent years. In 1900 it amounted to two 
millions, and in 1904 to more than five millions, 
exceeding that of all other countries with the excep- 
tion of the French Indies, whence the rice shipments 
are very heavy. 

The chief items of Philippine import come under 
the general headings of clothing, food-stuffs, and 
manufactures of steel and iron. In the period from 
1900-1904 these three classes of goods represent 
ahout two-thirds of the total average imports of 
thirty million dollars, and during the decade from 
1885 to 1894 the proportion was even greater. In the 
latter period fibers and textiles, chiefly cotton and 
cotton goods, accoimted for six million dollars ; and 
in the American period for rather more. Since 1900 
food-stuffs have taken the lead in the items of foreign 
purchases. This preponderance has been due to large 
importations of rice, the staple food of the natives. 
Rice was also the largest item in food imports during 
the Spanish decade under comparison, but not to sueli 
an extent as at present. The agricultural depression 
which is a natural sequence of war, the ravages of rin- 
derpest, and other factors, account for this condition. 
Although it seems true that the Philippines ought 



256 THE PHILIPPINES. 

to produce a larger proportion of the staple article 
of food of its population, the fact of importing a con- 
siderable quantity is not necessarily an indication of 
unfavorable economic conditions. It is quite possible 
that many Filipino laborers can apply themselves to 
other branches of agriculture with greater profit than 
they would derive from growing rice, a low-priced 
product. In any case, with the present high scale 
of wages and the primitive methods of culture em- 
ployed in the islands, it is more economical to buy 
the cheap production of Asm than to raise the grain. 
Unless a more scientific system of cultivation is soon 
inaugurated, the rice industry of the Philippines is 
in danger of extinction.* 

An important fact, as indicative of development 
and improvement, is the large increase in recent years 
of the imports of iron and steel. In the compara- 
tive periods the average value of this class of ship- 
ments rose from eight hundred thousand dollars to 
in excess of two millions. Kearly half of this total 
is of American origin. 

The United States has a practical monopoly of 

*The cost of labor in the Chinese rice fields is about half 
as much as the cost of similar labor in the Philippines, 
but the adoption of economical methods would more than 
offset the difference. A Filipino will cultivate one hectare, 
yielding 1,500 pounds of paddy, at a cost for his labor of 
$20 gold and board per annum. A Louisiana field hand re- 
ceives $200 a year and board, but he produces IGO.OOO pounds 
of rice. He receives ten times as much as the Filiphio and, 
with the aid of scientific appliances, does one hundred times 
as much work. 



THE EXPORT TRADE. 257 

the flour imports, and the same may be said of raw 
cotton. 

There are still extensive fields of the trade of the 
islands into which the American shipper has not yet 
entered, or only tentatively, but the groAvth of ship- 
ments of manufactures from the United States to 
the Philippines is distinctly gratifying in view of 
the fact that it has been achieved in open competi- 
tion. The imports from Spain in 1894 were but 
slightly greater than those of America ten years later, 
although the former were the culmination of relations 
extending over a long period and fostered by ad- 
vantages over competitors. On the other hand, Amer- 
ican enterprise has, in a comparatively short space 
of time, borne equal fruit in a new field where it 
has not enjoyed any tariff favors and has had to make 
its way in the face of the established trade of other 
countries. What has already been accomplished gives 
promise of an enormous extension of trade with this 
market after 1909, when the lapse of the restrictions 
imposed by the Treaty of Paris will permit of a re- 
adjustment of commercial relations with particular 
view to the mutual advantage of the two countries. 

THE EXPORT TEADE. 

The export trade of the Philippines has hitherto 
depended almost solely upon its agricultural products. 
Neither the rich mineral resources of the islands nor 
their facilities for cultivating the mechanical indus- 
tries have ever been encouraged. 

17 



258 THE PHILIPPINES. 

During the past fifty years the exports have been 
made up practically of hemp, sugar, tobacco, coffee, 
and copra, with the first two maintaining the leading 
places. In pre-Suez days these two articles, in nearly 
equal quantities, represented more than half of the 
total exports, which averaged ten millions. From the 
opening of the Canal until 1885 the sugar trade 
enjoyed its greatest prosperity, and the exports for 
this period of fifteen years averaged nine millions 
to five millions for hemp, in a total average export of 
a little short of twenty millions. Thereafter sugar 
continues to decline under the pressure of beet com- 
petition, whilst hemp makes a steady increase, favored 
by the natural monopolistic conditions of the indus- 
try. In the American period sugar has fallen into a 
minor place, with an average of barely three mil- 
lions, in a total of twenty-seven and a half millions 
of exports and hemp has reached eighteen millions, 
being two-thirds of the total. 

Tobacco has been generally the chief of the lesser 
exports with an average value of about two millions 
during the fifty year period. Coffee, which has 
virtually disappeared from the list of exports, reached 
its highest figure in 1889, with nearly two million dol- 
lars. Copra is the youngest, and one of the most 
promising, of the export articles of the Philippines. 
The development of the copra trade is of recent years, 
and during the American period it has passed tobacco 
in the value of its shipments and is closely approach- 



MANILA HEMP. 259 

ing sugar. Many of the products of the Archipelago, 
which are at present not represented in the list of 
exports, or only by unimportant shipments, are likely 
in the future to become considerable factors in its 
trade. 

MANILA HEMP. 

Manila hemp occupies a unique place amongst the 
products of the Philippines. The demand for it was 
long since established on account of a combination of 
peculiar qualities to which no other fiber can lay 
claim. It has been a staple article of commerce for 
a century, and although numerous attempts to raise 
it in foreign countries have been made, its native 
land remains the exclusive source of its supply. 

Another exceptional feature of the hemp industry 
is the essentially primitive character of the cultiva- 
tion of the plant and the method of extracting the 
fiber. 

Maguey fiber has been an active rival of Manila 
hemp in many fields, but its chief advantage lies in 
a lower price, and so long as the quality of the latter 
is maintained at a high grade it need not fear com- 
petition. 

Under these conditions of a natural monopoly in an 
exceptionally valuable commodity, produced from the 
abundance of nature, with the most rudimentary out- 
lay of labor and capital, it might be inferred that the 
hemp exports of the islands would show a uniformitv 



260 THE PHILIPPINES. 

free from the vicissitudes of industries exposed to 
severe competition and dependent upon the invest- 
ment of large capital and the exercise of skilled labor. 
Such an inference is borne out by the figures. 

Fifty years ago the hemp exports did not amount 
to twenty thousand tons. At the present time the 
outgo is six times as large, and the tables show that 
it has been attained by a constant and steady growth. 
The irregularities marked by exceptional figures are 
no doubt due to local and transitory conditions en- 
tirely independent of market influences. The great 
falling off in 1890, for instance, is accounted for by 
an exceptionally dry season. 

At the end of the fifties exports of hemp had in- 
creased to twenty-five thousand tons yearly, and they 
fluctuate around that figure for the following ten 
years. The opening of the Suez Canal, and the ex- 
tensive introduction to agriculture of automatic bind- 
ers, gave impetus to the demand for the fiber. The 
upward trend of the trade continued until the last 
years of the Spanish regime. During American oc- 
cupation there was, as might have been expected, some 
falling off, owing to the generally disorganized con- 
dition of labor and industry, but the slightness of the 
declines is remarkable, and is doubtless to be ex- 
plained by the nature of the industry and the com- 
parative ease with which it could be pursued even 
in times of disturbance. A reaction, however, sets 
in with 1901, and since then a new record average 



MANILA HEMP. 261 

has been made with one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand tons. The outlook for this, the leading ex- 
port of the islands, is decidedly promising. It still 
enjoys its exclusive position in the market, the Philip- 
pines continues to be the only country that can pro- 
duce it, and there is every reason to depend upon a 
constantly increasing demand. As has been inti- 
mated, there is but one danger threatening the pros- 
perity of this trade, and that lies in a deterioration 
of the quality of the finished fiber, such as results 
from carelessness in the process of extraction. This 
detrimental factor has operated to the injury of the 
industry in the past, and in 1894 the merchants of 
Manila were obliged to take concerted action to check 
it. A recurrence of the same thing in recent years 
seems to demand drastic measures to preserve the 
place which Manila hemp holds in the markets of 
the world and in the trade of the Philippines and to 
prevent the impairment of its reputation and the pos- 
sibility of its sinking to the level of inferior fibers.* 

The act of March the 8th, 1902, which gave the 
American importer the benefit of the export duty, 
put an end to an anomalous condition in the trade. 

* The interests of this and other Philippine industries 
would be served by a system of governmental inspection of 
exports such as exists in some of the Australian govern- 
ments. At a time when the islands are seeking new markets, 
it is of the utmost importance that careless or conscienceless 
exporters should be prevented from bringing their products 
into disrepute. 



262 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Previous to this time the American manufacturer had 
derived his supplies of the fiber largely from Great 
Britain, incurring the cost of transhipment and the 
profit of the middleman. This feature of the Manila 
hemp trade is of long standing, its inception probably 
dating from the opening of the Suez Canal. In 1885 
America made considerable purchases of the fiber in 
the British market; in 1892 nearly half of the im- 
ports of that article to the United States came from 
Great Britain, and as late as 1901 America received 
the greater proportion of its supply from the same 
source. At present these indirect imports are in- 
considerable, and may be expected to cease altogether 
within the next few years. 

THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 

The sugar industry in the Philippines presents a 
sorry spectacle of decay, with little encouragement to 
hope for future revival. With no other distinction 
in the markets of the world than the discrediting one 
of general inferiority in quality, Philippine sugar 
has sufi'ered terribly in the losing struggle of cane 
sugar throughout the world during the past twenty- 
five years. Adverse local conditions have combined 
with market influences to bring about a serious state 
of decadence in the industry. 

In earlier times, when the cane of tropical countries 
had no competitor, and when wasteful methods of ex- 
traction were universal, the Philippine product found 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 263 

a readj market at profitable prices. The killing com- 
petition with European bounty-fed sugars was not 
met in the Philippines by any improvement in the 
primitive process of production, and the industry 
sank, as it must have done under any but conditions 
of the greatest economy in extraction. The very pros- 
perous period of the Philippine sugar trade was 
between 1855 and 1870, when high prices ruled, but 
the response to this stimulus was only moderate, prob- 
ably on account of the great distance of the country 
from the points of demand. The opening of the Suez 
Canal mitigated this disadvantage, and the exports 
immediately showed a marked increase. In the fif- 
teen years preceding the opening of the Canal the 
exports had ranged from forty to fifty thousand tons. 
From the late sixties to the early eighties sugar ship- 
ments had quadrupled, with prices fairly constant at 
about three cents a pound, and this may be deemed 
the golden era of the Philippine sugar industry. 

Meanwhile, the destructive competition with the 
beet product had already commenced. Germany Avas 
nearly doubling her output of beet sugar annually. 
Prices began to fall immediately after 1880, culmin- 
ating in the sugar crisis of 1885. The three succeed- 
ing years were a time of the greatest depression in 
the industry, when production at the ruling prices 
was unprofitable. A reaction followed and prices and 
exports fluctuated throughout the remaining years of 
Spanish rule, but never again reached the figures that 



264 THE PHILIPPINES. 

prevailed previous to 1880. The annual trade dur- 
ing these last years approximated an average of two 
hundred thousand tons. 

We have summarized the experience of the in- 
dustry in three consecutive stages of its existence: a 
period of highly profitable prices, but small exports, 
in pre-Suez days ; a period of fair prices, great ac- 
tivity and rapid growth, under the stimulus of access 
to the world's markets not yet surfeited by over- 
production; and a period of low prices for fifteen 
years with a nominal increase in exports, during 
which the industry finds it yearly more difiicult, 
with its primitive methods and low-grade product, to 
hold its ow^i. In the keen competition that has dis- 
turbed the sugar industries of the world since 1885, 
the beet product has not only had the advantage of 
fostering bounties, but also of scientific inventions, 
tending to greater economy of production. In a less 
degree, as might be expected of an industry in the 
hands of Oriental people, sugar cane has also been 
the subject of improved methods, but in this respect 
the Philippines have lagged behind all other tropical 
countries. The old stone-mill, with its extraction 
of only forty per cent, of the weight of the cane in 
juice, and the ancient open kettle, with its low-grade 
product, are still the predominant features of the in- 
dustry. That the Philippine sugar trade, with its anti- 
quated methods, escaped extinction during the period 
of stress following 1885, is explainable mainly upon 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 265 

the ground that cheapness of labor made a small 
margin of profit still possible. The afflictions — 
war, pestilence, and famine — that have visited the 
islands in the years immediately following 1896 were 
more than sufficient to cause the collapse of the totter- 
ing industry. During American occupation the ex- 
ports of sugar have not amounted in any year to one 
hundred thousand tons, and we must go back thirty 
years in the history of the industry to find an anal- 
agous period of small production. 

There seems to be no doubt that under scientific 
conditions of production, Philippine sugar could com- 
pete successfully with the beet and cane products of 
other countries. It is demonstrable that the adoption 
of modern economic methods of extraction Avould 
double the value of the output, thus enabling the pro- 
ducer to meet the increased rate of wages and secure 
a satisfactory profit at present prices. But nothing 
short of a complete reorganization of the industry 
upon an up-to-date basis can reinstate the sugar trade 
of the islands. 

The most important customers of the Philippines 
for sugar, as well as for hemp, have been the United 
States and the United Kingdom. For many years 
following 1855 Australia was a large purchaser, but 
with the extension of production in that country its 
receipts of Philippine sugar gradually fell off and 
ultimately ceased. In 1890 the imports of the United 
States suddenly dropped from one hundred and thirty 



266 THE PHILIPPINES. 

thousand tons in the previous year to forty thousand, 
and half the former figures are more than the ship- 
ment of any subsequent year. 

The cause of this sudden dispansion was the ]\[c- 
Kinley Act, which placed sugar upon the free list 
and put a bounty upon the domestic article. As a 
consequence the American importer was able to pur- 
chase in all markets upon equal terms, whereas he 
had previously been taxed according to quality. The 
immediate effect was that the low-grade product of 
the Philippines, which had enjoyed the quasi-protec- 
tion of a comparatively low import duty, lost its best 
market and the American trade was transferred to 
the Dutch East Indies, with their superior output. 
Coincident with the withdrawal of American custom, 
exports to the United Kingdom increased, but after 
a few years this trade diminished and has now vir- 
tually died away. This is accounted for by the con- 
stantly increasing British consumption of the beet 
product, which has represented ninety per cent, of 
her sugar imports in recent years. 

With the disappearance of the two customers upon 
whom his trade depended, the Philippine producer 
has been forced to look for a new market, and this he 
appears to have found nearer home. It is said that 
the taste for sugar among Oriental people has shown 
a marked development during recent years. Be that 
as it may, there seems to be no doubt that the im- 
ports of that article by China and Japan in the past 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 267 

decade have increased to a surprising extent. Previ- 
ous to the American occupation China was only a 
spasmodic purchaser of Philippine sugar, and con- 
siderable shipments to Japan have been made only 
since 1890. From 1885, the exports to Hongkong 
have been constant at about thirty-five thousand tons 
a year. There is reason to believe that most of these 
shipments have been in transit to China. Thus the 
Philippine sugar trade has since 1885 been gradually 
shifting its field from Great Britain and the United 
States to China and Japan. The grade of the article 
is better suited to the latter markets and there is 
ground for the belief that the trade in the new direc- 
tions may be held and extended. 

A hopeful feature of the cane sugar industry was 
created by the Brussels Convention, which, by remov- 
ing the advantages derived from the European bounty 
system, has placed the beet product upon a basis 
of equal competition with cane. Despite his cruder 
methods, the tropical producer, with cheaper labor, 
can meet the beet manufacturer in a fair field with- 
out favor. It is true that the labor market in the 
Philippines has undergone a change in recent years 
which enhances the cost of the output, but this disad- 
vantage can be offset by improvements in the process 
of production. 

• The great need of the industry at present, as it was 
in Spanish times, is capital. Producers are stagger- 
ing under heavy indebtedness at exorbitant rates of 



268 THE PHILIPPINES. 

interest and the prospect of effecting the reorganiza- 
tion absolutely necessary to put the industry upon a 
paying basis, is remote without outside assistance. 

The basic requirement of the situation is further 
tariff concessions to Philippine sugar by the United 
States. This would afford it an assured profit in 
the world market, encourage the capitalist, restore the 
confidence of the money-lender, and make it possible 
for the planter to pay higher wages, install improved 
machinery, and introduce a system of economic pro- 
duction. 

Aside from the American producer, who appears 
to be quite unnecessarily fearful of the impairment 
of his interests, this plan has met with general ap- 
proval. How long the representatives of a favored 
trust, with powerful influence in Congress, may be 
successfully able to oppose this, one of the most press- 
ing needs of the Philippines, it is impossible to sur- 
mise.^ That the proposed legislative action could not 
create a competition harmful to themselves seems to 
be a fair deduction from the fact that the United 



♦ The influence of this same sugar clique may be traced in 
the miserly land act passed by Congress, which still re- 
tains its original form despite the urgent recommendations 
of the Commission for more reasonable concessions. Under 
the plea of safeguarding nearly seventy millions of acres of 
public demesne from falling into the hands of speculators, 
the limit of land that may be acquired by an individual, or 
corporation, is set at less than the quantity necessary to 
establish a profitahle sugar plantation. 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 269 

States at present consumes annually six times as 
much sugar as the Archipelago exported in its best 
year and about twenty times the amount of its output 
in recent times. It is reasonable to suppose that the 
tariff advantages in question would not have the effect 
of transferring the entire Philippine production to 
America, but that the trade with the Orient would 
be maintained at better prices, and, with every rea- 
sonable allowance for the extension of the industry 
under the more profitable conditions, it is difiicult to 
conceive of the Philippines producing an amount of 
sugar equal to the present American consumption of 
the foreign product, which in 1904 exceeded seventy 
million dollars worth. 

Many criticisms have been made of the Spanish 
policy in the islands, and especially of that policy 
which operated to discourage their industrial develop- 
ment and the growth of manufactures that would mili- 
tate in any way against those of the mother country. 
In the face of these export figures in American times, 
and the above-mentioned opposition to relief, the ques- 
tion arises whether, in view of its oft-admitted re- 
sponsibility for the welfare of the islands, the Gov- 
ernment of the United States is justified in sacrificing 
vital interests of the whole Philippine people at the 
behest of a small but powerful clique of domestic 
sugar producers. On the one side is a Trust enrich- 
ing a few millionaires with generous profits ; on the 
other a country struggling for industrial advancement 



270 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in which the revival of this once prosperous industry 
would be a god-send to tens of thousands. This is 
one of the many Philippine affairs on which Con- 
gressional rhetoric is wasted. What is wanted is 
prompt and conscientious Congressional legislation. 

TOBACCO. 

For one hundred years from 1781 tobacco was a 
government monopoly in the Philippines. Every 
means was employed to stimulate production without 
consideration for the producer. The monopoly owed 
its inception to the chronic deficiency in the Insular 
revenues and soon became an important fiscal asset. 
In 1785 the revenue from this source amounted to 
thirty-nine thousand dollars ; in 1844 it had increased 
to two and a half millions, and at the time of its 
abolition in 1882 the proceeds of the tobacco sales 
were sufiicient to meet half the expenses of adminis- 
tration. 

The official figures of tobacco exports are too irregu- 
lar to afford reliable data of the annual production 
and trade conditions. The output was stored in the 
government warehouses and released in response to 
market movements, or the exigencies of the govern- 
ment, creating wide fluctuations in exports from 
year to year. Spain has always been the largest 
taker of the product. The United Kingdom was the 
only other purchaser of the Philippine leaf down to 
1873, and her consignments seem to have been inter- 



Cleaning Abaca. 

A description of the process is given in the chapter 

on " Agriculture." A fortune awaits the man who 

shall invent a satisfactory substitute for the crude con- 
trivance shown in the illustratimi. 

Photo by Worcester. 



TOBACCO. 271 

mittent and irregular in quantity. From the last 
named year shipments began to take the direction of 
the British East Indies and China. The exports of 
manufactured tobacco have for a long period of years 
averaged about one million dollars in value. The 
distribution in this case has been much wider than 
in that of leaf. Spain, Avhere the Regie system was 
in vogue, took a very small quantity of the Philip- 
pine cigars. The British East Indies has been the 
largest consumer during the monopoly period, and in 
the closing years of its existence received practically 
the entire export. In the years immediately suc- 
ceeding 1855 China imported heavily, but the trade 
declined rapidly and expired before 1875. The 
United Kingdom and Australia also took considerable 
quantities for a long period. 

In 1882 the monopoly was abolished with a re- 
sultant economic disturbance during the following 
few years of a transitory period preceding free pro- 
duction and trade. 

In 1885 the leaf exports showed an increase to 
nearly thirteen million pounds, and in 1892, the best 
year since the monopoly, amounted to twenty-six and 
three-quarter millions. During the American rule 
the figures have shown a slight decline, Avith an aver- 
age of about twenty millions of pounds in recent 
years. In the past decade Austria-Hungary has be- 
come an important factor in the leaf tobacco trade of 
the Philippines. In 1900 she purchased, through her 



272 THE PHILIPPINES. 

state monopoly, four and a half million pounds, and 
in succeeding years between two and four millions, 
but in 1904 tlie exports to that country were short of 
one and one-third millions. As might have been an- 
ticipated, the United States, aside from a few experi- 
mental shipments, has not been able to use the Philip- 
pine product.* 

There has not been much change in the distribu- 
tion, or quantity, of the exports of manufactured 
tobacco since monopoly days. This must not be 
accepted as an indication that production has been 
at a stationary figure. On the contrary, there seems 
to have been a great increase in domestic consump- 
tion under free conditions. The cigar and cigarette 
have come into general use among the islanders, and 
it is estimated that six-sevenths of the population 
smoke, and consume more than half of the total out- 
put of the weed. If such is the case, the stationary 
exports are quite consistent with enormous increases 
in manufactured tobacco. 

Coincident with the establishment of free produc- 
tion and the removal of supervision, a deterioration 
in the quality of the leaf began and has continued 



* There is reason to believe that, even though Philippine 
tobacco be admitted free to the United States, great diffi- 
culty will be exi)erienced in finding an extensive market 
amongst American consumers, who are accustomed to quali- 
ties in their tobacco very different from those exhibited 
by the Philippine leaf. This, however, is an argument for 
the removal of the duty rather than otherwise. 



COPRA. 273 

with a consequent falling off in price, which has had 
a depressing effect upon the industry. Unfortunately 
for any hope of improvement in this respect the cul- 
tivation of the leaf is carried on almost entirely by 
small producers. 

COPBA. 

Copra is the latest of any Philippine industries to 
be developed to considerable extent. The facilities for 
the extension of the industry are practically unlim- 
ited and it gives great promise of future prosperity. 

Although the cocoanut has always been an im- 
portant factor in the domestic economy of tropical 
people it is only within recent years that copra has 
had a commercial value. During the Spanish regime 
shipments of copra to meet the limited demand of the 
confectioner and soap-maker doubtless went to swell 
the export figures of ^^coacoanuts," but it is not until 
the American period that the article figures promi- 
nently in the trade of the islands. The increased de- 
mand is due to new processes of converting copra 
derivatives into food products, a business in which 
the manufactures of Marseilles have become consum- 
ers of enormous quantities of the dried meat of the 
cocoanut. 

The exports of copra in 1900-1904 average in 
excess of two and a half million dollars annually. 
In 1900 they exceeded three millions, and fell to half 
that amount in the following year, due to insur ree- 
ls 



274 THE PHILIPPINES. 

tionary disorders in the districts whence the chief 
supply is derived. In 1903 the figures approached 
four millions, to decline again in 1904 to nearly half 
as much as a result of exceptionally unfavorable cli- 
matic conditions. More than two-thirds of these ship- 
ments were made to France. 

The copra industry is particularly suited to the con- 
ditions which prevail in the Philippines, and a bright 
future seems to be in store for it. 

COFFEE. 

The coffee exports of the Philippines ceased years 
ago to play an important part in the trade of the 
islands. 

In 1855 about one million and a quarter pounds 
of the bean were shipped, and the exports increased 
steadily until they reached their maximum, with 
sixteen million pounds, in 1884. In 1889 the ship- 
ments exceeded thirteen and a half millions, but in 
that year the plantations were visited by an insect 
pest followed by a leaf blight with ruinously destruc- 
tive effects. Prom that time the output declined pre- 
cipitously, and at present is insignificant in amount. 
It has been claimed for Philippine coffee that it is 
equal to the product of Java, but the best prices ob- 
tained for it have not sustained this estimate. The 
chief consumers of the Philippine article have been 
Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, 
together with a considerable China-Hongkong trade 
hard to trace to the points of consumption. 



COFFEE. 275 

The revival of the industry has been mooted, with 
a suggested American import duty on coffee in con- 
nection with free trade for the Philippine article. 
The plan has in its favor the past record of pros- 
perity enjoyed by the industry and the known suit- 
ability of soil and climate to the production. On the 
other hand are serious adverse considerations. A cof- 
fee plantation requires large outlays of capital and 
ten or twelve years of waiting for the maturity of 
the trees. In the meantime there is the ever-present 
danger of a recurrence of the disaster which overtook 
the plantations fifteen years ago. When scientific 
safeguards against such calamities have been pro- 
vided, as they probably will be ere long, the generous 
profits in coffee culture will doubtless attract all the 
necessary capital, but in the meantime the Philippines 
offer better and less hazardous fields for the invest- 
ment of money.* 



♦ Nothing could have been more wisely conceived for the 
benefit of the Philippines than the visit of the members of 
Congress under the guidance of Secretary Taft. At the time 
of writing the party is still in the islands, but the effects 
of their experience and some idea of its probable results, 
may be gathered from the following press report (August 
16, 1905) : "A majority of the members of Congress have 
been convinced that Philippine products ought to be ad- 
mitted free of duty at our ports. Mr. Hill, of Connecticut, 
will no longer oppose a removal of the duty on tobacco and 
"cigars, and Mr. Shirley, who represents a tobacco-growing 
district in Kentucky, agrees with him. Opposition to the 
free admission of sugar and other products has also been 



276 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The chief industrial need of the Philippines is a 
cheap and expeditious means of inland transportation. 
The projected railway system will supply this require- 
ment and with its inception a rapid development of 
the resources of the Archipelago may be looked for. 

THE TRANSPOBTATION PROBLEM. 

The Insular Government has been authorized to 
accept bids for the construction of 1,233 miles of 
railroad in the islands. Bidders must be citizens or 
corporations of the United States or the Philippines. 
The roads will be exempt from taxation, but must 
pay to the Government one-half of one per cent, of 
the gross earnings during the first thirty years, and 
one and one-half per cent, for fifty years thereafter. 
The Government will guarantee interest at the rate 
of four per cent, for thirty years on first mortgage 
bonds covering nearly the entire cost of construction 
and equipment.* 

There are in operation two roads in the islands. 
That owned by the Compania de la Tranvias de Fili- 
pinas runs from the section of Tondo, in Manila, to 



overcome by the statements of insular producers, who have 
been questioned by the ^ isitors at several meetings held 
for this purpose. Mr. Grosvenor, of Ohio, says that at the 
coming session of Congress a bill providing for the free 
admission of all Philippine products will be introduced and 
supported by Mr. Payne, the chairman of the Ways and 
Means Committee." 

* The routes of the proposed railroads are given in a 
later chapter. 



THE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM. 277 

Malabon, in the province of Rizal, a distance of 4.35 
miles. The other running from Manila to Dagupan, 
in the province of Pangasinan, a distance of 121.79 
miles, is under the control of the Manila and Dagupan 
Railway Company, Limited. The former is confined 
exclusively to passenger traffic. During the year 1902 
it carried 562,089 passengers, and its income was 
$53,965 Mexican.* The cost of operation was 
$33,034 Mex., leaving a gross profit of $20,931 Mex. 
The value of the entire property, including land, 
roadbed, rolling stock, and buildings is $115,800 
Mex., indicating a very low grade of construction 
and equipment. The Dagupan-Manila Railway was 
opened in 1894, and although it has suffered losses 
from destruction of property during the subsequent 
disturbances, it is a promising enterprise with a 
growing traffic. The gross income of the company 
during 1902 was $1,238,235, and the gross expendi- 
tures $864,532, leaving a gross profit of $373,703 
on a capitalization of $12,300,000. During the same 
year, 1,104,372 passengers were carried over an ag- 
gregate of 23,591,024 miles, affording a gross revenue 
of $683,206 ; a total of 165,760 tons of freight was 
carried an aggregate distance of 9,706,855 miles, 
and from this traffic was derived a gross revenue of 
$397,699. The business of the road has increased 
, considerably since American occupation. 

*The exchange value of the Mexican dollar is fifty cents 
United States currency. 



278 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The Manila-Dagupan road has been authorized to 
construct two additional lines — one from Bigaa, a sta- 
tion on the existing line in the province of Bulacan, 
to Cabanatuan, in the province of Nueva Ecija; 
and the other from a point on the existing line about 
a mile north of the Manila terminus to Antipolo, in 
Hizal province. These two branches will aggregate 
65.87 miles. The act granting the franchises for 
these roads requires the completion of the former be- 
fore the close of the year 1905, and the latter not 
later than March, 1906. An electric road is in 
process of construction from the municipality of 
Pozorubio, in the province of Pangasinan, to Baguio, 
in the province of Benguet, a distance of twenty-seven 
miles. The report of the officer in charge of the 
work states that the road "will open up the most 
promising mining district in the Philippines, as the 
mines of Benguet yield copper and gold. Limestone 
cliffs furnish a fine quality of lime. Coal is found in 
the Bued river canyon. Hot sulphur and mineral 
springs abound. The mountains are covered with 
timber, and are crowned with forests of pine. Many 
of the fruits and vegetables of the Temperate Zone 
are successfully cultivated in Benguet." Although 
not precisely relevant to a review of commercial and 
industrial conditions, it may be stated in passing that 
at Baguio will be established a sanatarium for invalid 
soldiers and civilians, and it will become the summer 
seat of the Government, in other words, the Simla 
of the Philippines. 



THE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM. 279 

One of the first works undertaken by tlie Gov- 
ernment upon the establishment of peace, indeed 
it had been inaugurated under the military ad- 
ministration, was the improvement of the high- 
way system of the islands. There is no means of 
ascertaining precisely how much, but several millions 
have been expended by the central and provincial gov- 
ernments in this direction, and it is proposed to con- 
tinue the work until every province is amply supplied 
with good roads and bridges. It is a tremendous task 
in a country which has been conspicuous for the 
paucity of these ordinary avenues of communication 
and one in wdiich the rains are so destructive. What 
are termed insular roads, that is, those running from 
one side to another of an island, or those connecting 
provinces, will be the sole charge af the Insular Gov- 
ernment. Roads which lie entirely w^ithin one prov- 
ince and are of local benefit primarily will be con- 
structed and repaired by the provincial board, for 
which purpose a tax of one-eighth of one per cent, 
on assessable land is levied. Where the necessity has 
existed the Insular Government has loaned money to 
the provinces in a large aggregate amount. 

The facilities for ocean traffic between Manila and 
foreign ports have been quite equal to the requirements 
and have responded readily to increased demands of 
recent years. In addition to the army transports, the 
vessels of fourteen steamship companies make period- 
ical calls at Manila on regular schedules. This service 



280 THE PHILIPPINES. 

is supplemented by a number of tramp steamers and 
a few sailing ships. A noticeable feature of the 
shipping trade is the scarcity of American bottoms; 
in fact, the flag of the United States is rarely seen 
afloat in Manila Harbor. In the year 1902 two 
hundred and fifty steamships visited Manila, and of 
this total but fourteen were of American register, 
whilst of seventeen sailing vessels twelve flew the 
American colors. 

The open ports of the islands are Manila, Luzon; 
Iloilo, Panay; Cebu, Cebu; Jolo, Sulu; Zamboanga, 
Mindanao; Appari, Cagayan, Luzon. 

An extensive interisland commerce has been car- 
ried on since the opening of the islands to foreign 
trade in 1834, and it is constantly increasing. This 
has been noticeably so since the extension of the ex- 
port trade during the American administration. 
There were in 1902 engaged in this coastwise trade 
1,469 sailing vessels and 175 steamers of fifteen tons 
register and over. There are a number of smaller 
craft navigating the waters of the Archipelago which 
can hardly be considered factors in its commerce, al- 
though engaged in petty local trafiic. 

During American occupation the number of ports 
and subports available for interisland traffic has been 
increased from 63 to 196. The Insular Government 
has neglected no means to encourage and foster the 
maritime traffic of the Archipelago. 

Manila has been in the past one of the least invit- 



THE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM. 281 

ing ports of call in the East for merchant vessels 
because of the extraordinary difficulty and expense of 
handling cargoes, and consequently freight charges 
to this point have been excessive. The rates were 
as much from Hongkong to Manila as from Hongkong 
to San Francisco, although the distance in one case 
is ten times as great as in the other. As ocean ves- 
sels could not approach nearer than two miles to the 
shore at Manila, lighters Avere necessarily employed 
in loading and unloading. The harbor, with its one 
hundred and twenty miles of coast line, w^as subject 
to almost the full force of storms, and during the mon- 
soon season ships not infrequently lay eight or ten 
days, incurring heavy demurrage, w^hilst awaiting 
an opportunity to discharge or take on freight. 

The Insular Government has projected extensive 
improvements which include the construction of an 
effective breakwater, and an ample system of docks, 
with a deep water approach. The work is being rap- 
idly pushed toward a conclusion, and in the near 
future these and other facilities will make Manila 
the most accessible and convenient port in the Orient. 

This is only one of several factors which must make 
for a great expansion of the trade of the Philippines 
in the next decade.* 



* Tables showing the export and import trade of the Archi- 
pelago for the past fifty years are incorporated in the 
Appendix. 



AGRICULTURE. 



VII. 

AGRICULTURE.* 

Musa Textalis: Manila Hemp — Conditions of Culture — 
Method of Extraction — Expenses and Profits Involved in 
Hemp Cultivation — Maguey Fiber — Cotton Fiber — Cane 
Sugar — Tobacco — Not a Promising Channel for Capital — 
A Proposed Remedy for Present Depression — The Cocoa- 
nut Palm and its Derivatives — Copra and Cocoanut Oil — 
Possibilities of the Industry Under Improved Methods 
— Estimated Expense and Profit in Cocoanut Plantation. 

The chief source of wealth in the Philippines 
since the Spanish conquest has been its agricultural 
products, and so they will probably continue to be. 
The soil of the islands consists mainly of decomposed 
volcanic rock, enriched by decayed organic matter. 
It is extremely fertile, readily yielding generous crops 
of tropical and subtropical growths. The range of 
vegetable products is very wide. About three hun- 
dred fiber plants of either commercial or domestic 
value are found in the Archipelago, and the variety of 
food producing plants is great. Tropical fruit trees 
yield abundantly with little or no aid, while corn, 
grain, potatoes and other vegetables bounteously re- 
pay cultivation. There are a number of plants from 



* Money values in this and succeeding chapters have all 
been reduced to their approximate equivalents in United 
States currency. 

(285) 



286 THE PHILIPPINES. 

which gums, dyes, oil and medicinal extracts may be 
derived. 

The chief products of the soil are hemp, sugar, 
tobacco, copra and rice, and of these the first named 
is of foremost commercial importance. 

MUSA TEXTALIS MANILA HEMP. 

The musa textalis is a member of the banana family, 
and is hardly distinguishable from the plant that 
yields the edible banana. It is locally known as 
ahaca. The term ''Manila hemp'' is a misnomer, but 
is thoroughly established in the trade. As a matter 
of fact, true hemp is a bast fiber, whereas ahaca is a 
structural fiber. The musa textalis is found only in 
its natural habitat, the Philippine Islands. Unsuc- 
cessful efforts, extending over the greater part of a 
century, have been made to cultivate the plant in 
different parts of the world, and it is a safe con- 
clusion that it cannot be made to produce a com- 
mercial fiber elsewhere than in the Archipelago. 
There, however, it grows wild and under cultivation 
in several of the islands. The province of Albay, in 
Luzon, including the dependent island of Catandu- 
anes, is the principal abaca district of the Philippines. 
Large quantities are also produced in the adjacent 
provinces of Ambos Camarines and Sorsogon. Other 
productive sections in Luzon are La Laguna and 
Cavite and, to a less extent, Bataan and Batangas 
provinces. The output is large from the islands of 



CONDITIONS OF CULTURE. 287 

Leyte, Samar, Marinduque, Masbate, Eomblon, 
Panay, and Bohol. Considerable quantities of ahaca 
are also produced in the northern and southeastern 
portions of Mindanao. 

The fiber has undoubtedly been used by the natives 
for centuries, but it is only within the past sixty years 
or so that its remarkable tensile strength, lightness, 
length, and durability have become known and ap- 
preciated by the commercial world. Previous to 1825 
the production was small and practically none w^as ex- 
ported. With the development of the foreign mar- 
ket the fields of the petty cultivator gave place to 
extensive plantations, but the primitive methods of 
the producers have undergone little if any improve- 
ment. 

The industry is capable of great expansion, for 
only a fraction of the large areas suitable to the 
growth of the plant have been brought under culti- 
vation. 

CONDITIONS OF CULTURE. 

For the successful culture of the musa textalis fer- 
tile land, subject to a liberal rainfall, in a climate of 
high humidity, is necessary. The drainage must be 
good, for the plant will not thrive in swampy soil. 
It should be sheltered from excess of wind or sun. 
Abaca is easy to raise, requires little tending, and 
is peculiarly free from liability to accidents. It is 
not subject to drought ; its low stature and environ- 



288 THE PHILIPPINES. 

ment protect it from the effect of hurricanes ; its 
station upon hilly slopes safeguards it from inunda- 
tions; fire cannot make headway against its juicy 
leaves and moist stem ; and it is practically exempt 
from the attacks of predatory insects. 

"No scientific effort has been made to develop, by 
cultivation, the desirable qualities of the plant and 
the possibilities in this direction are promising, for 
almost every valuable vegetable growth, w4iich has 
been the subject of intelligent investigation and ex- 
periment, has proved to be susceptible of more or less 
improvement. 

A plantation is started from seed or suckers. In" 
the former case maturity is reached in about three 
years; in the latter six months earlier. After this 
stage, har\^esting is practically continuous. The 
plants are set out in rows, from two to three yards 
apart each way, with a certain amount of herbage 
left between, to prevent washing away of the soiL 
Trees are left standing in the field, or are planted, in 
order to furnish the requisite shade and to break 
the force of high winds. The trees selected for this 
purpose should have small leaves, that they may not 
create a dense shadow, and deep feeding roots that 
will not rob the young plants. The best time for 
planting is during the rainy months of May-July 
and September-ISTovember. In August, January, 
February, and December, the heat of the sun is 
sufiiciently strong to injure, and perhaps kill, the 



METHOD OF EXTRACTION. 289 

shoots. During growth, and after maturity, the plan- 
tation needs little attention beyond rough weeding. 
After cutting, the crop renews itself by means of 
the suckers which are thrown off by the roots of the 
original plant 

METHOD OF EXTRACTION. 

Harvesting is most expeditiously effected by the 
employment of gangs of three laborers. One cuts 
the stalk even wdth the ground and strips it. The 
second, who is usually a woman, splits the leaf- 
sheaths into sections, tw^o or three inches wide, dis- 
carding the inner portions which have an undue pro- 
portion of pulp. These strips are then subjected to 
a crude mechanical process by means of which the 
fiber is extracted. The machine employed consists 
of a long block of wood, elevated upon legs. In the 
center of the block a knife blade is attached and 
arranged so as to work in unison with the action of 
a spring above it, or a treadle below. The spring 
exerts a constant upward pressure upon the handle of 
the knife and so depresses the blade, whilst pressure 
upon the foot-lever counteracts this effect. The strips 
of leaf-sheath are drawn by hand over the block and 
beneath the blade, whilst the operator regulates, or 
releases, the pressure of the latter by means of the 
lever. This process separates the moist pulp from 
the fiber. It may be repeated several times with 
the effect of producing a finer, and consequently more 

19 



290 THE PHILIPPINES. 

valuable, fiber, with, however, a corresponding dimi- 
nution in weight. The best fiber is produced by using 
a blade with a smooth edge, but, as serrated knives 
render the operation easier, they are commonly used 
at the expense of quality in the output. When the 
process is not thorough a considerable portion of the 
juicy pulp is retained. This discolors the fiber and 
reduces its strength, but it also increases the weight, 
which is an important consideration to the laborer. 
This is a feature of the industry that calls for cor- 
rection. Perhaps the remedy lies in the invention of 
a machine which will dispense with the present man- 
ual process and turn out a uniform quality of fiber. 
There have been many futile attempts to devise such 
a mechanical contrivance, but it should not be too 
difficult an achievement for American ingenuity. 
The present method of extraction is said to waste 
from twenty to thirty per cent, of good quality fiber. 
Portability is no less necessary than economy in a 
hemp machine. The stalks of the plants are very 
heavy and within a few hours of being cut up the 
leaf -sheaths must be subjected to the knife, so that it 
is found more economical to transport the apparatus 
than the material. As the work is done on very 
rough ground and generally upon mountain sides, a 
machine, to be practicable, must be light enough to 
be easily carried by two men.* 

* "The honor of having practically solved the question 
seems to have fallen to a young American engineer, 



METHOD OF EXTRACTION. 291 

After extraction, the fiber is exposed to the sun 
for a few hours and, when sufficiently dried, is loosely 
packed in bundles and carried to the nearest market, 
of which there are several in each hemp district. The 
principal grades recognized are '^current," ^'second," 
and ^'colored/' with several gradations in these classi- 
fications. 

The ^^beneficiary" system of labor is in vogue in 
the hemp districts. Under this system the planter 
assigns to each native cultivator a section of ground 
on which to raise and tend plants and at intervals to 
extract the fiber. One-half of the produce represents 
the operator's pay for his labor, and at the time that 
he makes delivery to the planter he receives the cur- 
rent local value of his share. This system appears 
to have been sufficiently profitable to the capitalist, 
but it has serious drawbacks. Under it the planter 
cannot exercise sufficient control over his property 



Robert Edward Lindsay. Doubtless the machine invented by Mr. 
Lindsay will undergo many improvements ; but in its pres- 
ent form it is reported as being capable of turning out sixty 
pounds of first-class white hemp of uniform quality, every 
hour by the labor of two men. Under the existing system 
an average hemp worker can strip about forty-four pounds 
of fibre in a day." Brigadier-General W. H. Carter, U. S. A., 
in The North American Rcvicic, May, 1905. 

A similar claim has been made for several machines 
which appeared to offer a solution to the complicated prob- 
lem, but it has always transpired, upon test, that some 
essential requirement was lacking in the device, or else that 
its operation was less economical than hand labor. 



292 THE PHILIPPINES. 

and its produce. He cannot prevent the cutting of 
immature plants and carelessness in extracting the 
fiber. When a native cultivator is in urgent need of 
a few dollars he will often sacrifice unready plants 
and rush the process of extraction, with the result 
of injuring the plantation and putting an unneces- 
sarily low-grade article upon the market. However, 
when all is said, hemp cultivation on a large scale is, 
with the possible exception of cocoanut culture, the 
most profitable and least risky field for the invest- 
ment of capital offered by the Philippines to-day. 

EXPENSES A]ND PROFITS INVOLVED IN HEMP 
CULTIVATION. 

Foreman gives some figures relating to outlay and 
income in hemp cultivation which may be of interest. 
Perhaps it is unnecessary to make any allowance for 
the increased cost of labor, because in an industry 
of the monopolistic character of abaca prices can 
always be adjusted to cover enhancement in cost of 
production. 

The labor of plant-setting in Albay Province may 
be calculated at $1.50 per 1,000 plants; the cost of 
shoots at from 25 cents to 50 cents per 100. Fre- 
quently, however, the capitalist will contract for the 
laying out of a plantation, on the basis of $5 for 100 
live plants, to be counted at the time of full growth, 
instead of paying for shoots and labor. In case this 



HEMP CULTIVATION. 293 

is done it is customary to make advances to the 
contractor. 

The following is, subject to the qualification made 
above, a conservative statement of the investment, 
profit, expenses, etc., of operating a plantation in 
Albay, but as the figures are based upon those of a 
plantation of half the size it may be assumed that a 
corporation or individual with the capital and facili- 
ties for operating upon this, or a larger, scale would 
produce fiber at less cost and consequently at greater 
profit. 

Plantation of 1,000 pisosones, or 3,472 acres, of 
land over two years planted with shoots and therefore 
ready to cut within one year from date of purchase. 
'No ploughing needed ; no fallow land. Each pisoson 
(3.472 acres) producing per annum 10 piculs of 
ahaca (equivalent por acre 3.60 cwts., yielding from 
3,472 acres 624.50 tons), or a total output of 10,000 
piculs, making 5,000 bales, in the assumed propor- 
tion of 80 per cent. Corrierite, 10 per cent Segunda, 
10 per cent. Colorado: 

Invested Capital. 

1,000 pisosones of land at $50 per pisoson $50,000.00 

Store for 1,000 piculs of ahaca, with ample space. 3,000.00 
Bale press and shed for pressing 200 bales per day 2,500.00 

Plot of land for store and sun-drying ground 700.00 

4 horses and two vehicles 300.00 

• Unrecoverable advances to 200 men at say $5 each 1,000.00 

Total invested capital $57,500.00 



294 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Working Expenses. 

Salaries : Manager $1,800.00 

2 European bookkeepers at $750 each 1,500.00 

4 Native storekeepers at $15 and $10 per 

month GOO.OO 

8 Plantation overseers at $10 per month 9G0.00 

4 Native messengers at $4 per month 192.00 

Labor: for pressing 5,000 bales at 9% cents; plus 
2 mats per bale at 87i^ cents per 100 ; and 14 

split rattans per bale at SlVo cents per 1,000 .... 4G8.75 

Waste in store of hemp mats, rattan, etc 1G3.50 

Stolen by laborers, say 200.00 

Maintenance, or depreciation, of press-value at 8 

per cent, per annum 200.00 

Fire insurance on Store, Bale, Press, and Shed, at 

2 per cent, on $5,500 110.00 

Keep of four horses per annum 9G.00 

Manager's traveling expenses about the province.. 200.00 

Taxes of various kinds 1,000.00 

Office expenses, telegrams, postage, stationery, etc.. 150.00 

Freight to Manila at 12% cents per picul 1,250.00 

Loading at 2^2 cents per bale 125.00 

Insurance at Manila at i/4 per cent, on $32,200 

(Manila selling value plus, say 15 per cent.) .. 159.00 
Manila broker's commission including landing, dis- 
charging, etc., at 2 per cent, on sale value 541.25 

Manila storage at 1% cents per bale, per month, 

say, for half a month 37.50 

Total working expenses $9,753^00 



Returns. 

Sale: Half of the above output of 10,000 picnls be- 
longs to the planter ; the other half is purchased 
from the laborer ; therefore : 5,000 piculs sold 
thus: 



A Rope Walk. 

The famous '' Manila " rope is thus made from 
abaca on the outskirts of the capital, like most other 
industries, by a laborious old-time process. 

From Stereograivh Copyrigfht, by Underwood & Underwood. New York. 



HEMP CULTIVATION. 295 



4,000 plculs (Corriente) at $4.25; 500 piculs 
(Segunda) at $3,871/2 ; 500 piculs (Colorada) 
at $3,121/2 $20,750.00 

Gain in price on 5,000 piculs, laborers' share 
bought at 75 cents per piciil under Manila 

market price 3,750.00 

Manila firms pay 50 cents per bale for pressing . . 2,500.o0 

Total receipts $27,000.00 



Outcome. 

Sale in Manila $27,000.00 

Deduct working expenses 9,753.00 

Net profit (25 per cent, on total capital)* ..$17,247.00 



In addition to the enormous quantity of liemp 
tliat is exported annually, a large amount is consumed 
in domestic manufactures, especially of cloth. The 
most extensively used of these fabrics is known as 
sinamay, a product entirely of hemp fiber. Jusi 
cloth is made from a mixture of fine hemp and pine- 
apple-leaf fiber, sometimes with an admixture of silk. 
A very beautiful diaphanous material called lupis is 
manufactured in small quantities from a special 



* Thirty per cent, net is generally accepted as the stand- 
ard profit in hemp cultivation. American methods of organ- 
ization will doubtless work extensive economies in this and 
other industries. Before long we shall see the planter, 
exporter, importer, and possibly carrier, combined in one 
corporation. 



296 THE PHILIPPINES. 

quality of hemp, which is miich finer and more diffi- 
cult to extract than the commercial grades. 

MAGUEY FIBER. 

Maguey is the name applied to the fiber of the 
agave americana, or centnry plant. The aggregate 
of fibers produced by the agave family is a large item 
in the world's output of fibers. In 1891 about eighty 
thousand tons of raw maguey fiber, valued at nine 
million dollars, entered the United States alone. 

The agave americana is cultivated on several of the 
Philippine Islands, but not nearly to the extent that 
it might be with profit. In 1901 the exports of 
maguey amounted to less than nine hundred tons, 
valued at about one hundred dollars a ton. In sub- 
sequent years these figures have increased consider- 
ably, and although the trade is still very small, the in- 
dustry exhibits a tendency to expand. There is a 
ready market for the fiber at profitable prices. It 
is used extensively in Europe and the countries of 
both ^orth and South America in the manufacture 
of ship's ropes and cables, in the making of ropes for 
mines, for lines, nets, weavings for hammocks, etc. 
With increased production, the Philippines should 
be able to compete with Central America in the 
trade, and there is every reason to believe that desir- 
able markets for this fiber might be opened up in 
some of the Oriental countries. 

A number of machines have for several years been 



COTTON FIBER. 297 

used extensively in Mexico, Central America and the 
West Indies for the extraction of sisal fiber from 
agave sisalana. This plant, though producing a 
coarser fiber than agave americana, is so nearly like 
it in the size and texture of the leaves that no doubt 
some of these machines could be adapted to the ex- 
traction of maguey. The present method is by ma- 
ceration, followed by rubbing and scraping. The 
essential principle of the machines, which clean one 
hundred thousand leaves and upwards a day, is that 
the pulpy substance is scraped from them without 
their being fermented, or macerated, thus saving con- 
siderable time and labor. 

COTTON FIBEK. 

Cotton is grown in various parts of the Archipelago, 
but not in sufficient quantities to create an export 
trade. The most productive district is Ilocos I^orte. 
At one time a long staple fiber was extensively cul- 
tivated in the province. A good quality of cloth was 
made from it and exported in considerable quantities. 
At the instigation of the Government this trade was 
neglected in favor of tobacco, and subsequent efforts 
to revive the industry have met with only partial suc- 
cess. Cotton spinning and weaving is at present car- 
ried on in Ilocos, solely with a view to meeting local 
demands. The fabric is produced from home-made 
looms of the roughest description, the weavers being 
women. 



298 'iHfi PHILIPPINES. 

It is impossible to ascertain to what extent local 
produce enters into the domestic consumption of cot- 
ton fiber, but one hundred tons would probably be a 
high estimate, and that is an insignificant figure 
beside the amount imported. 

There are localities in the Philippines suitable to 
the growth of cotton, and the general conditions are 
favorable to its cultivation, so that the industry may 
be expected in time to develop, at least to the extent 
of supplying a much greater proportion of the domes- 
tic demand. 

In several provinces of the Philippines the pine- 
apple is grown for the exceptionally fine fiber which 
is derived from the leaves. The fabrics called ''pina* 
and 'Wengue' are used in large quantities in the 
islands and are becoming popular in both Europe and 
America. The current prices of the fabrics range 
from twenty-five to seventy-five cents a yard, and a 
ton of the fiber brings about $150 in the London, 
market. Pineapple fiber has several highly commend- 
able qualities, but as about twenty thousand leaves 
must be handled to produce fifty pounds of it, the in- 
dustry is not likely to assume commercial importance 
until extraction can be effected by the more economical 
agency of machinery. 

CANE SUGAR. 

After thirty years of prosperity, the sugar indus- 
try of the Philippines fell upon evil days, and since 



CANE SUGAR. 299 

1896 it has been engaged in a bitter struggle for its 
very existence. When one considers the accumulated 
misfortunes of the planters during recent years, it is 
to wonder that any of them have had heart to sustain 
the conflict and to wish them heartily the better luck 
that they deserve. First came the killing competition 
of the beet product, followed by continual fluctuations 
in the price of cane sugar; then war, rinderpest, 
cholera, famine, and locusts. Under this weight of 
disasters the industry w^as crushed out in many sec- 
tions, and in 1901 the entire crop of the Archipelago 
amounted to only two million piculs,* of which three- 
quarters was produced in Xegros Occidental. 

The needs of the industry are threefold: (1) Ad- 
mission of the product to the United States free; 
(2) investment of capital; (3) establishment of the 
most improved methods of production. The first is 
the all-essential factor, and a realization of it Avould 
be followed by the other desiderata in the natural 
course of things. Under present conditions the 
planter's profit barely pays interest upon capital in 
Negros where the process of manufacture is more eco- 
nomical than elsewhere. 

Sugar production requires a greater outlay for its 
successful prosecution than any other agricultural 
enterprise available in the Philippines. In order 
to, start a hacienda, land must be purchased, and one 
hundred acres would be a small plantation. This, 

*A picul equals 137i/l> pounds. 



300 THE PHILIPPINES. 

in ISTegros, would cost from $35 to $70, according to 
whether it was cleared or not, and would yield from 
200 to 300 tons of cane. It would be necessary to 
erect buildings and install machinery; to purchase 
draft animals and implements ; and to make advances 
to laborers. The initial expenses of establishing a 
one-hundred-acre plantation would probably be about 
$25,000, aside from the working capital, which would 
be nearly half as much. Wages have doubled, and 
the price of everything that enters into the manufac- 
ture of sugar has increased in recent years so that, 
whilst the cost of producing a picul of sugar was about 
$1.50 ten years ago, it is now twice as much. 

In [N^egros, European mills are in operation almost 
exclusively, but there is not such a thing as the 
modern refining plant in the islands. Elsewhere than 
in l^egros the antiquated cattle mill is the rule. The 
process, too, in I^egros is superior to that in general 
use, giving a much greater percentage of extraction 
than the average of other sections. 

In the northern provinces the sugar plantations are 
worked upon the sistema de inquilinos, that is, the 
tenant, or ^'beneficiary," system. In the Visayas 
the plan of day labor prevails, and this might be 
the better arrangement but for the fact that the prac- 
tice of making advances is inseparable from it. In 
order to secure the required field hands the planter 
is often obliged to pay several weeks wages before a 
stroke of work is done, and the greatest caution is 



TOBACCO. 301 

necessary to avoid heavy losses. On large estates it is 
often found advisable to employ subdivisional man- 
agers who are allowed an interest in the enterprise. 

Students of conditions in the Philippines and econ- 
omists who have investigated the sugar situation all 
arrive at the same conclusion, which is, that the salva- 
tion of the industry depends upon relief legislation, 
and that failing such aid the export trade is in serious 
danger of extinction.^ The planters do not look for 
a large export to the States, but free or preferential 
entry of their product here would insure better prices 
for it in the Oriental markets. 

TOBACCO. 

All the commercial tobacco of the Philippines is 
grown in northern Luzon, and the best of it in the 
provinces of Cagayan and Isabela. A considerable 
quantity of leaf is raised in the Visayas, but it is of 
a poor quality, quite unfit for any but the local 
market. 

The Cagayanes have not yet learned to appreciate 
fertilizers, and so they prefer the bottom-lands to 



* There is promise of legislation favorable to the Philip- 
pines by Congress early in 1906. It is probable that all the 
Insular products will be placed upon the free list, with the 
exception of sugar and tobacco, upon which 25 per cent, of 
the present impost will be retained. Secretary Taft has 
under serious consideration the establishment in Manila of 
a bank on the plan of the Egyptian Agricultural Bank. 
Such an institution would solve many problems and give 
new life to agricultural enterprise. 



302 THE PHILIPPINES. 

higher ground for growing tobacco, although fields in 
the former are frequently inundated to the injury 
or destruction of the crops. Seed beds are prepared 
between July and JSTovember, according to whether 
the plants are to be set in high or low land ; and trans- 
planting takes place from six weeks to two months 
after sowing. The beds should be carefully irrigated 
and protected against excessive heat and rain by 
means of portable bamboo shelters, but this is rarely 
done, except upon plantations which are conducted by 
Europeans. In the days of the monopoly the native 
was compelled to take these and other measures for 
the benefit of the plant, but now, according to the 
Governor of Cagayan, ^'he simply sows the seed and 
leaves the rest to Providence.'' 

The ordinary methods of ploughing, planting, hill- 
ing, and topping are folloAved more or less carefully, 
according to the energy or intelligence of the indi- 
vidual cultivator. The tobacco w^orm is the bane of 
the planter here as elsewhere. The family of the 
farmer are out from daybreak until 8 or 9 o'clock 
fighting the pest and again from sunset until dark, 
or perhaps later if the moon serves. The more care- 
ful growers, and the hired laborers of the larger 
plantations carry on the work by night with torches. 
The worms originate from a small white night moth 
which lays its eggs upon the leaf. It is possible that 
a remedy might be found in the strong acetyline 
lights which have been effectively used in India to 
lure locusts and destructive beetles to their death. 



TOBACCO. 303 

If the process of planting is haphazard, that of cur- 
ing is much more so with the generality of cultivators. 
Hardly ten per cent, of them use curing sheds. The 
majority expose the leaf to the sun until it loses its 
green color and then hang it in the house until drying 
is completed. AVliere a shed is used it is usually 
nothing more than a nipa roof on posts. Sometimes 
movable walls of bamboo mat are added. In 
monopoly days the Government erected large curing 
sheds at different points and, in addition, required 
each planter to build a small one at his own expense. 
^ After drying, the leaves are piled to allow fermenta- 
tion to take place. They are then sorted by Avomen 
and made up into hands of ten leaves each. Ten 
hands are rolled into a bundle and tied together. 
Forty of these bundles go to a bale, which, therefore, 
contains four thousand leaves. Five grades are recog- 
nized by buyers, but the classification is somcAvhat 
elastic, especially when the demand is good. The leaves 
of the first class should be forty-five centimeters in 
length, and clean and sound; those of the second 
class thirty-nine, and of equal quality to the former; 
those of the third are also first quality leaves, twenty- 
six centimeters in length ; the fourth class are defec- 
tive leaves, twenty-four centimeters long; and the fifth 
class somewhat shorter and of the same character as 
the fourth. If a bundle of first class length con- 
tarns six, or more, low-grade leaves it is put in the 
second class; if the number of impaired leaves ex- 
ceeds twelve, it goes to the third class; and if they 
exceed twenty, to the fourth. 



304 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The buyers put the leaf through a final process of 
fermentation to improve the color, and re-sort them 
with the object of attaining a higher classification 
than that upon which they were bought; they are 
then repacked in bales of three quintals (about 300 
pounds) each and carried to Aparri, whence they are 
shipped to Manila. 

IS^OT A PROMISING CHANNEL FOR CAPITAL. 

Hon. G. Gonzaga, Governor of Cagayan, who is in- 
terested in the business, gives some figures on cost and 
returns which would apply to a plantation run with 
hired labor. The estimate is based on one hectare 
(2.471 acres) of land, and it may be supposed that an 
operation upon the scale of one hundred hectares 
would show some economy over these figures, but prob- 
ably not much, with the same methods. One hectare 
of low land is valued at $100 at least, and of high land 
at $50. 

Labor and animals would be required for plough- 
ing the seed bed and the field ; for tending the former 
and transplanting the shoots. Four men would be 
needed for forty days in caring for the plants during 
growth, hilling, and topping, and removing worms. 
I^ext, there would be the work of cutting and trans- 
ferring the leaves to the drying shed. After that, sort- 
ing, fermenting, and baling. 

Mr. Gonzaga's estimate of the cost of this labor is 
say $75 gold, and he concludes that the operation 



CHANNEL FOR CAPITAL. 305 

on the present basis of production would result in a 
loss of about $8.80. 

The Governor admits, however, that very much 
better returns are possible. Like capitalists in other 
agricultural industries he complains of the unaccus- 
tomed increase in the price of labor, to w4iich there 
has hardly been time for adjustment. It is rarely, 
he says, that a hectare produces fifty bales. On the 
best lands the plant only yields an average of fifteen 
leaves, which would give thirty-seven bales and twenty 
hands. He adds, however, that if the tobacco is cul- 
tivated as it should be it is an easy matter to secure 
fifty bales — three bales of the first class, five of the 
second, eight of the third, ten of the fourth superior, 
nineteen of the fourth current, and five of the fifth. 
On this basis the output would be: 

Income. 

Proceeds from tobacco leaves from one hectare of 
land: 

3 bales, first class $21.38 

5 bales, second class 22.50 

8 bales, tbird class 16.00 

10 bales, fourth class, sui^erior 10.00 

19 bales, fourth class, current 14.25 

5 bales, fifth class 1-25 

Total receipts 85.33 



This is only about lll/o per cent, return on the 
working capital, and makes no allowance for interest 



20 



306 THE PHILIPPINES. 

on the money sunk in land, buildings, and draft ani- 
mals, which would amount to about $350 per hectare. 
In the crop of 1903 the proportion of the different 
classes of tobacco produced in the province of Caga- 
yan was as follows : 

First class, 1.2 per cent., or, in a crop of 50 bales, 
bales, 24 hands. 

Second, 3.1 per cent., or, in a crop of 50 bales, 1 
bale, 22 hands. 

Third, 6.5 per cent., or, in a crop of 50 bales, 3 
bales, 10 hands. 

Fourth, superior, 11.7 per cent., or, in a crop of 50 
bales, 5 bales, 34 hands. 

Fourth, ordinary, 31.1 per cent., or, in a crop of 
50 bales, 15 bales, 22 hands. 

Fifth, 46.4 per cent., or, in a crop of 50 bales, 23 
bales, 8 hands. 

The figures do not seem to invite the investment of 
capital in the direct cultivation of tobacco in the 
Philippines. In 1883, the year after the abolition 
of the monopoly, a company was formed in Spain 
styled ''Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas/' 
with a capital of $15,000,000 gold, for the purpose of 
growing and dealing in tobacco. It established large 
plantations and factories and entered into extensive 
operations, including the manipulation of other pro- 
duce. The venture was a failure, but the result mav 
be attributed in large measure to bad management and 
lack of experience of local trade conditions. 



PRESENT DEPRESSION. 307 

The estimates of expense in the foregoing cal- 
culations do not apply to the small native culti- 
vator, in whose hands the greater part of the in- 
dustry rests at present. He secures free labor al- 
most entirely. The whole family is impressed into 
service, and each grower helps others in the vicinity. 
When the time for ploughing arrives five or six neigh- 
bors come, with their implements and carahao, and 
afterwards their women folk and children aid in the 
transplanting, and the work is done in a few days. 
This labor is paid for in kind. After transplanting, 
the cultivator leaves the care of the field to his wife 
and children, who also cut the leaves and attend to 
the curing and sorting. Of course, such a method 
must give crude results, but it is highly economical, 
and the native tobacco farmer considers the receipts 
from his patch clear profit. He takes no account of 
money invested in land, or animals, nor ever thinks 
of forming a sinking fund for emergencies. If he 
has a good year he spends the proceeds ; if a bad one 
follows he has recourse to the Chinese, or Filipino, 
leaf traders for a loan, at fifty per cent, interest, 
payable from the next crop. If the succeeding crop 
fails to meet expectations he becomes more deeply in- 
volved and in all probability ultimately loses his land. 

A PKOPOSED REMEDY^ FOR PRESENT DEPRESSION. 

The tobacco industry, like almost every other, has 
suffered from the series of calamities, which have be- 



308 THE PHILIPPINES. 

fallen the Philippines in recent years, and the present 
situation is one of critical depression. Mr. Gonzaga 
suggests a remedy which would involve the introduc- 
tion of capital in what might be a profitable field, 
if the operations were in the hands of thoroughly ex- 
perienced men. The Governor's idea is the establish- 
ment of what he calls an ''agricultural bank," but 
which would necessarily develop into a trading com- 
pany with a very wdde scope. The company would 
''lend money to the farmers on mortgage at a mod- 
erate rate of interest, say six or eight per cent. The 
bank could engage in the tobacco industry, both as a 
means to assure payment of its credits as well as to 
improve the price of the article, and destroy the 
monopoly of the commercial companies. For this 
purpose the bank should have agents and branches in 
the markets of Europe and America for the exporta- 
tion of tobacco and for the importation of rice"^ and 
other articles needed by the inhabitants of the prov- 
ince. In order to supply the lack of work animals, 
and to provide against droughts, the bank could en- 
gage in the work of irrigating the fieldsf to be used 
ill the cultivation of tobacco and cereals ; of bringing 



* Doubtless Governor Gonzaga intends to intimate that 

agencies for the exportation of rice could be established in 

Asia. American rice cannot be imported to the Archipelago 

with profit, although it may be after the opening of the 
Panama Canal. 

t The niggardly terms of the Philippine Land Act are 

expanded somewhat in favor of irrigation companies. 



PRESENT DEPRESSION. 309 

in plows and portable irrigation pumps, and of work- 
ing the fields for a small compensation in money or 
crops."* There is no doubt that the completion of 
the railroad through the tobacco district will make 
for a return of prosperity to the industry. 

Opinions differ widely as to the quality of the 
Philippine product, and this may be largely due to 
the fluctuations of the quality since the cessation of 
the monopoly. Many experts maintain that the best 
Philippine tobacco is excelled only by the Havana 
leaf for cigars, and those who become accustomed to 
the soft flavor of the Manila cheroot are apt to prefer 
it to anything else. The author of the ''Soverane 
Herbert says: ''After Cuba, the Philippines are the 
smoker's paradise. The tobacco is second only to 
that of the Pearl of the Antilles, and all the people 
smoke. Contrary to the usual Eastern custom, limi- 
tations are set upon smoking by children. The Fili- 
pinos do not allow children under ten years of age to 
smoke. The lady of the house lays in a stock of 
tobacco as regularly as an English housekeeper gets 
in her coal. The people make their own cigars, as 
smokers at home roll their own cigarettes (hence the 
form of Manila cheroots), and boys and girls twist 
their cigars as deftly as a hardened English cigarette- 
smoker. It is a common sight in Manila to see father 



*Tlie suggestion is met to some extent by Secretary Taft's 
proposed agricultural bank, 
t The Soverane Herbe. W. A. Penn, New York, 1901. 



310 THE PHILIPPINES. 

and mother sauntering along, each smoking a cigar 
and followed by their children, also happily puffing 
the divine herb. The Negritos of Luzon smoke in a 
curious fashion, holding the lighted end of the cigar 
in their mouth. Some Anglo-Indians also practice 
this method, by which it is claimed smoking is more 
enjoyable and the secretion of nicotine avoided. 
With a little practice all danger of burning the mouth 
is overcome." 

THE COCOANUT PALM AI^D ITS DERIVATIVES. 

The cocoanut palm is the most useful of all tropical 
growths. It enters largely into the domestic economy 
of all Oriental people, and its products are adapted 
to a great variety of purposes. The nut yields a 
nutritious food and the milk a healthful beverage. 
From the sap a spirituous liquor is distilled. The 
fiber answers many purposes, and the trunk is cut into 
lumber, whilst the leaves serve for thatch. x\side 
from these and other utilities, valuable commercial 
products are derived from the tree. The most im- 
portant of the latter are copra, cocoanut oil and coir. 

The cocoanut grows throughout the Archipelago, and 
there are extensive areas particularly well adapted 
to its cultivation. The site of a plantation should 
be well-watered, alluvial, or sedementary, ground. 
Seed nuts are used, after they have sprouted, and are 
set in soil that has been ploughed and manured. 
The nuts, or shoots, should be planted in straight rows 



Fakmin(^ in the i'mUPPlNES. 

The illustration shows the primitive wooden plough 
with which the ground is rouglily hroken and the 
indispensahle carahao. who is guided hy a string attached 
to his nose. 

From StereoRraph Copyright, by Underwood &- l'n<lerwood. New York. 



COPRA AND COCOANUT OIL. 311 

about nine meters apart, allowing about one hundred 
and twenty-five trees to the hectare. The trees will 
begin to bear fruit in the seventh year, and w^ill reach 
maturity in the fifteenth year. The earlier crops are 
gathered with extension cutters, or from ladders. 
TOien the tree has become hard, shoulders may be cut 
in it for climbing. 

COPRA AND COCOANUT OIL. 

In the chapter on Commerce mention is made of 
the infant trade in copra and its rapid expansion. 
Copra is the dried meat of the nut, from which is 
derived the oil. It is now extensively used in the 
preparation of such dietetic compounds as "vegeta- 
line," ^'cocoline," and other '^butters," which are 
free from the objections attaching to animal margarin, 
and have a much higher fusion point than dairy but- 
ter, a very desirable quality in the tropics. The 
manufacture of these vegetable compounds is extend- 
ing rapidly, creating a constantly increasing demand 
for the raw material. One of four, or five, large 
factories in Marseilles had an average output of 
twenty-five tons a month in 1900, and is now turn- 
ing out upwards of seventy thousand tons a year. 

Cocoanut oil is not at present an article of export 
from the Philippines, but the local consumption is 
very large. At least one light is kept burning all 
night in every Filipino house in the country, and 
cocoanut oil is used for the purpose. It is made in 



312 THE PHILIPPINES. 

thousands of homes by a rude process which answers 
the requirements. Cocoannt oil is also the street 
luminant in out-of-the-way barrios. It enters largely 
into the culinary processes of the natives, and is used 
for medicinal purposes and by the women as a hair 
dressing. Students of the industrial economy of 
the Philippines have frequently urged that the oil 
should be exported instead of the copra. Under pres- 
ent conditions the larger part of the profit in the 
trade accrues to the manufacturer at the expense of 
the growler. There are several difficulties in the way 
of adopting the suggested reform, which would only 
be feasible in the case of a corporation carrying on 
the industry upon a fairly large scale. The copra 
buyers, of course, raise every obstacle to endeavors 
to ship oil, and are said to have contrived to influence 
discriminatory freight rates against it. The most 
important factor in the question, however, is pre- 
sented by the problem of finding a market for the. 
press-cake, which is a valuable by-product of the 
manufacture. This cake, which is the residue of 
the copra after the oil has been expressed, is used 
in Europe as a cattle food, and brings such good 
prices that the copra buyer can afford to pay the 
full value of the copra, on the basis of its yield of 
oil, with confidence that the resultant press-cake will 
pay incidental costs and leave a generous profit to the 
manufacturer. There is no demand for the press- 
cake in the islands. 



POSSIBILITIES OF THE INDUSTRY. 313 

In this, as in other Philippine industries, the 
process followed is crude and behind that of other 
Oriental countries, where machinery is employed with 
economical results. Taking a nut in his hands, the 
operator sharply strikes it upon a spearhead which 
is fixed in the ground, and thus removes the husk. An 
average man will husk one thousand nuts in a day in 
this manner, but twice as many, and even more, are 
sometimes handled by particularly dexterous work- 
men. Another man splits the nuts in half with a 
stroke of a holo. The fragments are then laid in the 
sun for a few hours, when the flesh is easily removed. 
Sun dr^dng for a day follows, after which the meat is 
exposed upon a bamboo griddle to the heat of a slow 
fire, composed of the shells and husks. After being 
broken into smaller pieces the product is ready to be 
shipped as marketable copra. 

POSSIBILITIES OF THE INDUSTRY UNDER IMPROVED 

METHODS. 

Modern plants, as operated in India and other coun- 
tries, employ machinery to husk the nut, crush the 
shell, to remove and winnow the fiber; to rasp and 
macerate the meat and to compress the residue. In 
the Philippines no account is taken of the husks, 
shell, or fiber, although they are valuable by-products, 
the last in particular being extensively used for coir 
matting, ship's cables, the covering of electric 
cables, etc. 



314 THE PHILIPPINES. 

W. S. Lvon, of the Philippine Bureau of Agri- 
culture, has expressed the opinion that '^notwithstand- 
ing the cheapness of labor, it is only by employing a 
mill well equipped with decorticating, rasping, hy- 
draulic-crushing, and steam-boiling machinery, and 
with facilities to convert the residue to feeding 
or other uses, that one may hopefully enter the field 
of oil manufacture in these islands in competition 
with copra-buyers/' He goes on to show the saving 
in the fiber item alone under such conditions. Esti- 
mating sixteen quintals of spinning fiber and five 
quintals of bristle fiber from every ten thousand 
husks, rating the cost of manufacture at half the 
selling price, and adding 20 per cent, to cover freight 
and commission, Ave have at $80 gold per ton, selling 
price, a balance of $55.63 per hectare. Deduct $7, 
the cost of fertilizers to compensate for the removal 
of ten thousand husks from the soil, and we have a 
net profit of about $50 per hectare. 

With the outlay of about $2,000 in machinery 
and powder, the output of a grove of four thousand 
trees could be scientifically handled and the enhanced 
profit might be expected to pay for the plant in one 
year. 

Mr. Lyon thinks that the "present conditions pre- 
sent especially flattering attractions to cocoanut grow- 
ers capable of undertaking the cultivation upon a 
scale of some magnitude. The present production 
of copra (estimated at 278,000 inculs in 1902) is 



IM PROVED METHODS. 315 

assurance of a supply sufficient to warrant the erec- 
tion of a high-class modern plant for the manufacture 
of the ultimate (the 'butter') products of the nut.'' 
The prospects of such an enterprise would be in- 
creased by the certainty of a local market in the Phil- 
ippines for most of the output. The average value 
of the best grades of copra in the Marseilles market 
is $54 gold per English ton. The jobbing prices 
January 3, 1903, of the refined products were, for 
each ton of copra : 

Butter fats $90.00 

Residual soap oils 21.00 

Press cake 5.20 



$116.20 



The difference represents the profit per ton, less 
the cost of manufacture. The profitable operation 
of such a plant would call for a plantation at least 
300 acres in extent. 

There is no agricultural enterprise afforded by the 
Philippines in which the returns are greater or more 
assured than the cultivation of the cocoanut. The 
process is simple and the crop is practically guaran- 
teed. The tree is subject to comparatively few dis- 
eases or accidents, its enemies are neither numerous 
nor difficult to circumvent. The demand for the 
product is continually enlarging, and such changes as 
are likely to occur in the trade features of the industry 
will probably be in favor of the planter. 



316 THE PHILIPPINES. 

ESTIMATED EXPEXSE AND PROFIT IN COCOANUT 
PLANTATION". 

The following estimate of outlay and profit is based 
upon the conditions in the district of La Laguna and 
Tayabas, where the nearest approach to systematic 
culture prevails. It may be accepted as a guide to 
prospective planters, although the figures for different 
districts vary and sometimes those for the different 
localities in the same district. The calculation, like 
all others in these chapters, is on the basis of United 
States currency. 

The cocoanut lands of the provinces in question 
are of three grades, valued at about $25, $12.50 and 
$5 per unimproved hectare for the first, second and 
third class, respectively. 

Formerly it was the practice to plant trees about 
^\G thousand to the hectare, w^hereas, at present, it is 
customary to place three thousand five hundred at 
the most in that area. It is, however, more conven- 
ient to use the former units of computation. 

Plantations of twenty hectares, or larger, are gen- 
erally laid out and worked upon the tenant, or ''bene- 
ficiary," system. The planter apportions the estate 
between five tenants, each of whom plants the trees 
upon the section assigned to him. The title to half 
the trees thus planted remains in the tenant until he 
has been paid for them at the rate of twenty-five cents 
apiece at the end of a stipulated period, generally 
seven years. After that time the full ownership of 



COCOANUT PLANTATION. 317 

I 

the plantation is vested in the proprietor of the land. 
The owner of the land furnishes the seed, implements, 
and animals, necessary for the work; the tenant pre- 
pares the land, plants the seed and tends the grove 
imtil the trees come into bearing. In the meanwhile, 
the latter may grow crops in the spaces between plant- 
rows, using the landowner's animals without charge. 
With the beginning of the fruitful stage of the enter- 
prise a new agreement is made. If the nuts are to 
be sold in a fresh state one-fifth of the crop goes to 
the tenant as remuneration for harvesting it. If 
copra is produced, the tenant receives one-third of 
the output. In both cases transj^ortation is effected 
at the expense of the proprietor. 

The plan of operating a plantation with hired labor 
is quite unknown to the industry, but, with plenty of 
draft animals and labor-saving farm implements, it 
could be operated profitably. Under such conditions 
one man could look after eight hectares and do it more 
efiiciently than he now tends half that area. 

Omitting labor, then the outlay upon twenty liec- 
tares of first-class land planted wdth five thousand 
trees will be as follows: 

20 hectares of land at $25 $500 

5 carabao at $50 250 

5,000 seeds at $10 per thousand 50 

Interest at 10 per cent, on investment for seven years. 500 

Taxes at three-eighths of 1 per cent 15 

Purchase of 2,500 trees at 25 cents G25 

Total investment $2,000 



318 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The first crop will be han^ested in the seventh year, 
after which the production will increase slowly, but 
steadily, for seven more years, when the full maturity 
of the plants is reached. The average yield of the elev- 
enth year, which is fifty nuts per tree, may be taken 
as a fair basis for the calculation of annual income 
during the eight years preceding full growth. Thus, 
a grove of five thousand trees will afford a crop of two 
hundred and fifty thousand nuts. If these are sold 
at the current local price of $10 per thousand, and 
deducting the one-fifth shares of the tenants, the pro- 
prietor will derive from his plantation an annual 
income of $2,000 on an investment of an equal 
amount. In the fifteenth year and thereafter each 
tree will give six harvests a year of fifteen nuts, or 
an annual total of ninety, thus bringing the yearly 
output of the plantation up to four hundred and fifty 
thousand nuts, having a gross value of $4,500. 

These returns are only enjoyed from the best lands. 
Trees in lands of the second class will ffive an aver- 
age of sixty nuts per annum, whilst uplands of the 
third grade will not yield more than half that 
quantity. 

It is not possible to make so close a calculation 
upon the results of copra production, because the 
yield of meat per one thousand nuts varies greatly 
with the locality and conditions of growth and the 
methods employed in the manufacture. In the 
provinces under consideration, however, four piculs 



COCOANUT PLANTATION. 319 

(a piciil is equivalent to 1371/2 pounds) per one thou- 
sand nuts is a conservative estimate. 

Upon this basis twenty hectares of first class land 
will yield one thousand eight hundred piculs, having 
a present local value of $4 per picul. Deduct the 
tenants' one-third shares from the total receipts of 
$7,200, and we have a gross income of $4,800 for 
the planter. 

The cost of transportation must come out of these 
returns before net profit can be determined. At 
present all copra is brought down to the coast on pack 
animals, and in some instances the expense of car- 
riage amounts to as much as one-fourth the price of 
the manufactured article. However, this is an item 
that will be reduced with the extension of the system 
of roads and minimized shortly for the districts that 
may be fortunate enough to be tapped by the railroad. 



AGRICULTURE. 

(continued.) 



21 



VIII. 

AGRICULTURE. 

( CONTINUED. ) 

Method of Coffee Culture — The Promise of Benguet Coffee — 
Rice — Cacao Cultivation and its Possibilities — Detailed 
Statement of a Cacao Plantation — Estimate of Expenses 
and Income of Sixteen Hectares of Cacao — Minor Prod- 
ucts, Indigo, Maize, Zacate, Teosinte — Bamboo and Nipa 
Palm — The Primitive Methods of Philippine Agriculture 
— The Filipino Considered as a Laborer — The Field for 
Americans in the Islands. 

Coffee appears to have been introduced to the Archi- 
pelago by the Spanish missionaries. Its systematic 
cultivation was commenced in the early part of the 
last century. In the eighties it had attained a promi- 
nent place in the exports of the Philippines, but since 
1889 the output has gradually fallen off until at 
present it is merely nominal. The greater part of the 
production was in the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, 
and Tayabas, whilst a considerable quantity of an 
inferior grade came from Mindanao. In the hoped- 
for revival of the industry it is more than possible 
that Benguet will be the center of production, both 
as regards quality and quantity. 

The most prominent planter in Batangas was Don 
Jose Luz, whose influence and example gave a great 
impetus to the growing of the berry. We are in- 
debted to the account of his son, Hon. Simeon Luz, 
.- .. : _._. ......... (323) 



324 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the present Governor of Batangas, for most of the 
following details of coffee culture in the Lipa district. 

METHOD OF COFFEE CULTURE. 

As a preparation to the establishment of a planta- 
tion the seed of the madre de cacao is sown at regu- 
lar intervals. After a year the young trees have 
reached a sufficient height to afford the requisite shade 
for the coffee plants, which are set out in the inter- 
vening spaces. From time to time the protecting 
trees are pruned and some of them removed in order 
to regulate the shade. Many careless cultivators shirk 
this precaution with a consequent deterioration of the 
product. The neglect has two questionable advan- 
tages ; the trouble of checking the trees is avoided 
and the growth of weeds in the dense shade is less 
than it otherwise would be. 

Six years usually elapse before the profits from a 
plantation offset the cost of caring for it for one 
year, but Mr. Luz expresses the opinion that '^by 
adopting modern methods the time of fruition may 
be advanced one or two years.'' According to the 
methods in vogue, a plantation of average fertility 
will, with good care, yield from twelve to twenty 
piculs per hectare. The cost of laying out one hec- 
tare in madre de cacao and coffee, including material 
and labor, wdll amount to about $30. 

The plant gives three crops — between August and 
September, in October, and in November, but per- 



METHOD OF COFFEE CULTURE. 325 

haps this should be considered as one continuous har- 
vest. The berry is picked by hand, but, as the high- 
est branches of the tree cannot be reached, the har- 
vester draws them down with a hook and so holds 
them with his foot whilst gathering the fruit. Of 
course this method, unless followed wdth the utmost 
care, works injury to the plantation. Unfortunately 
the coffee-picker receives his remuneration in the 
form of one-fifth of the produce he handles, and the 
inducement is to secure as great a weight of berries 
as possible without regard to the damage inflicted in 
the process. 

The usual method of drying is to pile the berries 
for twenty-four hours whilst they ferment, and then 
to spread them in a cement enclosure, called a hilaran, 
until they have become hard enough to resist the ac- 
tion of the pestle which is used in cleaning. This is 
one of the features of the industry that need reform- 
ing. It is both tedious and w^asteful. The berries 
sometimes lie for thirty to fifty days before they 
become hard enough and are apt to rot in the mean- 
while. 

The cost of airing, sifting, and sorting one picul 
of coffee is about fifty cents. The cost of weeding 
and caring for a plantation varies with the degree 
of culture devoted to it. A fair average is perhaps 
$5 a year per hectare. The crop should run from 
twelve to twenty piculs of berries per hectare, but, as 
a matter of fact, the actual figures are more generally 



326 THE PHILIPPINES. 

from six to ten. This is due to shiftlessness, as ex- 
hibited in failure to reduce the shade, inefficient weed- 
ing, etc. 

The prices secured in the Manila market for Batan- 
gas coffee in 1S99 ranged from $12.50 to $17.50 per 

picul. 

It is significant of the unscientific and haphazard 
methods that characterize all the industries of the 
Philippines that the worms which destroyed the coffee 
trees in 1889 had been known to the planters since 
the inception of coffee culture and had done more or 
less damage every year. To quote Mr. Luz, ''this 
damage w^as so small, however, that no one bothered 
about seeking a remedy for an evil that he did not 
believe could cause a complete destruction of all cof- 
fee plantations. But in 1889, to the great surprise 
and fear of all, it was observed that all the planta- 
tions of the province were attacked. That year saw 
the total loss of the crop and the death of almost 
all the coffee plants throughout the territory which 
Lipa comprises." 

After this achievement the worms disappeared and 
two years later new branches sprang from the denuded 
trunks. The budding hopes of the planters were 
quickly shattered, however, for simultaneously Avith 
the revivification of their trees the blight appeared 
upon the leaves. Thoroughly discouraged and de- 
spairing of a revival of the industry, the OAvners of 
coffee lands put them under the plough and planted 



THE PROMISE OF BENGUET COFFEE. 327 

sugar, rice, and corn. Hardly one hectare in a thou- 
sand of the former plantations remains in coffee. 

THE PKOMISE OF BENGUET COFFEE. 

The natural conditions in Benguet are admirably 
adapted to the successful growth of the plant; the 
product is of an exceptional quality, comparing favor- 
ably with Mocha and Java in the opinion of experts ; 
the blight has never appeared in the province; the 
demand for the Benguet berry, at highly profitable 
figures, is greatly in excess of the supply, and is 
likely to remain so for many years ; and the climate 
is a delightful one for Europeans and Americans. 

In the words of Governor Pack, ''the only obstacle 
in the way of making coffee cultivation a most profit- 
able industry is the difiiculty of obtaining suitable 
labor. The question of labor will depend entirely 
upon the individual. The cost of labor for hacienda, 
or ranch, purposes will average from five to ten cents 
gold a day, depending upon the kind of labor required 
and the age and sex of the laborer. As these coffee 
plantations now in the province have been planted 
and cared for mostly by the women, and at odd 
moments when they were not otherwise occupied, 
it is impossible to estimate the cost of making or 
caring for a coffee plantation, but it is usually esti- 
mated by growers who are so far civilized as to 
figure on profit and loss, that the coffee trees after 
an average of five years should net the owner twenty- 



328 THE PHILIPPINES. 

^ve cents gold eacli year. These trees may be planted 
six feet apart. This coffee sells in the market at 
Benguet to-day at from $6 to $7.50 gold a cavan* 
which should weigh about sixty-seven pounds." 

It would appear that, with coffee at $12 per picul 
in Manila, the grower under present methods would 
make a profit of about sixteen per cent, on the capital 
invested. Allowance must, however, be made for 
bad years and twenty per cent, is probably a fair 
deduction to cover that contingency. But it is gen- 
erally conceded that under an improved system of pro- 
duction the crop might be augmented at least one- 
fifth without material increase of outlay. The price 
of labor does not affect the calculation greatly, since 
a large part of the work is done on the share plan. 
In any case the recent enhancement in wages should 
be more than offset by the reduction in transporta- 
tion cost which will follow the opening of the railroad. 
The Insular Bureau of Agriculture is conducting ex- 
periments with a special kind of coffee in Lipa, and 
it is confidently believed that the result will be to re- 
instate the industry which w^as formerly the chief 
source of wealth of this once prosperous district. 
Planters are also looking to this Bureau for the dis- 
covery of preventive measures against the inroads of 
worms and blight. Meanwhile Benguet seems to offer 
the likeliest field for the production of the berry. 

* This would give approximately from $12 to $15 a picul 
of 1371/2 pounds. 



THE PROMISE OF BENGUET COFFEE. 829 

Coffee was introduced to the Province of Benguet in 
1875, and, after experiments, was found to thrive 
on the plateaus at an altitude of four or five thousand 
feet. In 1881 the Spanish governor ordered all the 
natives of the province to engage in the cultivation of 
the plant. This met with the active opposition of the 
Igorots, who destroyed the plantations in Daklan 
and undid the work of years. It happened about this 
time that the natives of Kabayan were under an Igo- 
rot chief of enlightened ideas and great influence over 
his people. This young chief visited Manila and 
other places in an investigation of the coffee indus- 
try, and, reaching the conclusion that it would afford 
a profitable field for the labor of his subjects, induced 
them to plant extensively. In a few years this tribe 
excited the envy of its neighbors by its comparative 
wealth, derived from the new enterprise. The Igorots 
of Daklan have endeavored to retrieve their former 
opportunity by planting coffee trees, and in a few 
years the district should produce large crops. 

Governor W. F. Pack, of Benguet, estimates the 
yield of a plant six years old at ''three pounds of 
good coffee" per year, but this is surely an over- 
sanguine expectation. In Peru, where coffee is gTown 
at the same elevation as at Benguet and under some- 
what similar climatic conditions, the average annual 
crop is one pound per tree, whilst in the Philippines 
ten ounces is a high average. If we assume that the 
Governor's figures were intended to refer to the green 



330 THE PHILIPPINES. 

berry and allow for the fifty per cent, difference in 
weight between it and the dried bean, we have an esti- 
mate too high to accept without explanation. 

The product of the Benguet highlands is of excel- 
lent quality and has always found a ready market. 
The entire output has heretofore been taken by the 
Tahacalera Company and shipped to Spain, where it 
always has commanded fancy prices. These have 
doubtless in a measure been due to the limited supply 
and will probably decline somewhat with increased 
production. The Insular Government is doing all in 
its power to foster and encourage the industry amongst 
the natives of the province. 

The price paid by the Tahacalera Company for 
Benguet coffee on the plantation, is equivalent to 
$12 to $15 per picuh but $1 per picul should be 
added for cost of carriage to Manila, when we 
have figures which compare well with the high quo- 
tations for Batangas coffee in Manila during 1899. 
It is almost certain that a company, or individual, 
operating upon a fairly large scale and selling in 
the open market would secure much higher values for 
its product, which would presumably be of a superior 
grade. These greater returns, and the practice of 
certain economies possible in the production, would 
permit of the payment of higher wages, and since Ben- 
guet will be connected by rail with Manila and the 
intervening provinces before these lines are in print, 
the solution of the labor problem should not be dif- 
ficult to find in the importation of field-hands. 



RICE. 331 

Rice, the staple article of food of the natives of 
the Philippines, as it is of most Oriental people, is 
grown more or less in every province of the Archi- 
pelago. It was the earliest agricultural industry of 
the Islands, and rice culture is to-day the occupation 
in which the Filipino finds the greatest pleasure and 
that in which he acquits himself most creditably. 

For many years rice was an important article of 
export, but since 1876 it has been imported in large 
quantities, and particularly so in the period of Amer- 
ican occupation. The large increase in purchases of 
foreign rice during recent years has been due mainly 
to the rinderpest, which carried off thousands of 
carabao, upon which the cultivators depended for the 
preparation of their fields. In many provinces — 
probably in most — the abandonment of rice has re- 
sulted in positive gain, for the natives have gen- 
erally turned their ground to better account by put- 
ting it into higher-priced produce. 

There are several species of the grain raised in the 
Philippines, but they come under tAvo general heads, 
namely, macan. or lowland rice, and paga, or upland 
rice. The former is a much finer quality in which the 
white grain predominates, whilst paga always contains 
a large proportion of red grain. Macan returns on an 
average eighty cavans in the crop for one of seed, 
and will sometimes run as high as one hundred to 
one, but paga seed seldom produces more than forty 
grains. On the other hand, more than one crop is 



332 THE PHILIPPINES. 

rarely harvested from the lowlands, whilst upland 
fields generally give three. The seed beds for low- 
land rice are thoroughly mashed with the plough 
under four or five inches of water and thickly sown 
broadcast. When the shoots have reached a height 
of from ten to fifteen inches they are pulled up by 
the roots and transplanted. 

The paddy-field is treated in the same manner as 
the seed bed, and the soil is worked up with a har- 
row under water until it forms a muddy mass. In 
order to accomplish this result artificial irrigation 
must sometimes be resorted to. The land is kept 
flooded until inflorescence develops ; it is then allowed 
to dry. 

The upland field is prepared by several ploughings 
and harrowings during the early rains. The seed is 
then sown directly upon it. In some localities sow- 
ing is effected by dropping three or four grains into 
each of a number of small holes which are made with 
a bamboo instrument. About one picul of unhulled 
rice is needed to sow a hectare of land of either 
character. 

Lowland rice is sown in May at the commencement 
of the rainy season, and harvested about four months 
later. It is cut with sickles, bundled, and allowed 
to lie in the field until dry. 

The process of separating the grain from the straw 
is carried out in various ways. Some small culti- 
vators use flails ; others resort to their feet. The grain 



RICE. 333 

is then pounded in a wooden mortar and finally sifted 
through shallow baskets. There are, however, a num- 
ber of threshing mills in Luzon which charge from 
twelve to fourteen cents per cavan for cleaning rice. 
The principal rice producing sections in the Archi- 
pelago are Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, 
Tarlac (northern portion), Zambales (southern part), 
Bulacan, Cavite, La Laguna, Batangas, Camarines 
Sur (the chief district of southern Luzon), the 
Visayan Islands, Capiz (Island of Panay), and 'Ne- 
gros. Pangasinan contains the best rice lands in the 
north. The macan of this province returns eighty 
cavans of grain for one of seed ; in the uplands the 
return is from forty to sixty grains. 

The finest rice farm in the Archipelago is at 
Imus, famous as the headquarters of the insurgents 
in Cavite during 1896. It contains eighteen thousand 
hectares, of which upwards of thirteen thousand are 
under rice cultivation. One third of this area is 
choice land that yields one hundred cavans of rice to 
one of seed ; another third yields seventy-five, and 
the remainder fifty to one. The balance of the estate 
is upland, which could be made to produce in the 
ratio of perhaps forty to one. In the same province 
there are notable plantations at San Francisco de 
Malabon and at Santa Ciiiz de Malabon. 
- In some provinces the land is prepared under con- 
tract at the rate of $1.50 per hectare, and for harvest- 
ing $3 and one cavan of seed per hectare are allowed. 



334 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Or, the cutting may be contracted for at the rate of 
from 25 cents to 37% cents per thousand bundles, of 
which the former yield two, and the latter,four cliupas. 
The cost and returns of rice culture vary greatly 
with differing conditions. The Cavite farms to which 
reference has been made net about thirty per cent, 
per annum on the capital engaged. They are, how- 
ever, worked under exceptionally favorable condi- 
tions. Nevertheless, it is quite probable that with 
ample capital, modern machinery, and railroad facil- 
ities, such as will soon be available, a large operation 
might produce as good, or even better, results. 

CACAO CULTIVATIOjST AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. 

Cacao is found widespread throughout the Archi- 
pelago but only in a few localities is it raised at all 
extensively. The intelligent cultivation of the plant is 
a highly profitable occupation where the yield is of 
excellent quality and the demand for it at present 
considerably in excess of the supply. All the choco- 
late produced from the Philippine cacao seed is con- 
sumed in the islands and falls short of the domestic 
requirements. Should the industry expand, as it 
ought tOj until there is a surplus for exportation, the 
product will find a ready market in the United States 
and elsewhere, for it is admitted by manufacturers to 
be first class, if not quite equal to the very best. 

Many sections of the Archipelago are perfectly 
adapted to the cultivation of the plant, and with im- 



CACAO CULTIVATION. 335 

proved methods the present large profits and superior 
quality of the product may both be enhanced. 

The prime essential to the successful growth of the 
cacao plant is a suitable climate; physical environ- 
ment is of next importance, and character of soil the 
least consideration. Cacao thrives in the atmosphere 
of a Turkish bath, and it should be planted in small 
valleys free from draught and sheltered from the 
prevailing wind by high hills or mountains. Planta- 
tions set in forest clearings enjoy the best possible con- 
ditions, it being understood, of course, that the heavy 
forest remains standing around the field. The land 
is cleared of everything but necessary shade trees, 
and worked to as great a depth as possible. Drainage 
ditches are dug before planting takes place. It is 
the general custom to set the fruiting banana for 
temporary shelter, but in districts where ahaca will 
grow it may be substituted with profit. The tem- 
porary shade is maintained until the fourth or fifth 
year, when it is grubbed out, the stalks and roots 
being left upon the ground, to which they furnish a 
useful fertilizer, rich in nitrogen. There are two 
varieties of cacao in general cultivation in the Archi- 
pelago — the criollo and the forastero. The former 
has the better flavor, is less bitter, and is more easily 
cured; qualities which combine to give it a higher 
commercial value. On the other hand, forastero has 
the advantage in point of yield, vigor, freedom from 
disease, and compatibility to environment. In gen- 



336 THE PHILIPPINES. 

eral, then, the preference should be given to the latter, 
but in certain districts of Mindanao, where conditions 
perfectly favorable to its cultivation prevail, criollo 
may be raised with greater profit. 

Planting is done '^at stake,'' or from the nursery. 
The former method, which consists in depositing seed 
directly in the field, is very hazardous on account of 
the presence of numerous predatory insects and ver- 
min. A careful planter will always resort to seed- 
lings, w^hich may be kept under close care and control 
until ready for transplanting. The seeds are planted 
singly in small pots, or bamboo tubes, the receptacles 
being set in a free, light soil. The shoots are care- 
fully watered and shaded for from three to six 
months, wdien they will be ready for setting out. 

The cacao plant grows to a height of from ten to 
twelve feet, and bears its crop of heavy pods directly 
from the trunk and main branches. Its five-inch 
fruit depends from stems none too strong and is 
easily torn off by a high Avind. The wood of the tree 
is of a very soft and spongy character, and offers only 
the slightest resistance to borers, so that it is neces- 
sary to be extremely careful to avoid injury to the 
bark. This makes pruning a delicate operation. The 
most abundant crop is generally secured at the com- 
mencement of the dry season, and the fruit continues 
to ripen during two months. The pods should be 
gathered by hand, or with the aid of extension cut- 
ters. ISTever should a laborer be allowed to climb a 



A CACAO PLANTATION. 337 

tree. The fruit is thrown upon the grouiid in he'ips 
and opened within twenty-four hours. Two jars of 
water are provided for the cleaners, who sort and 
grade the seeds as they are removed from the pulp. 
Large, ripe, and unimpaired seeds go into one jar; 
small, imperfect and immature seeds into the other. 
Thus they are allowed to stand for a day, after 
which they are washed in fresh water, dried in the 
sun for two or three days, and they are ready for the 
manufacturer. Simple as the process is, it results 
in an excellent quality of product which finds a 
ready market at unusually high prices. Under these 
circumstances it is doubtful whether the attempt to 
improve the grade by fermentation with its at- 
tendant risk is advisable. 

Few crops make so little drain upon the soil as 
cacao does. Trees commonly bear continuously for 
twenty years and more without the aid of any fer- 
tilizer, but the use of it would, no doubt, be advan- 
tageous both as to quantity and quality of yield. 

DETAILE1» STATEMENT OF A CACAO PLANTATION. 

The following estimate of the expenses and profit 
involved in cacao cultivation, carefully compiled by 
Mr. W. S. Lyon, of the Insular Bureau of Agri- 
culture, might, perhaps, need some revision to con- 
form to the present conditions of the labor market and 
other economic changes of the past two or three years. 

22 



333 THE PHILIPPINES. 

It is, however, substantially correct, and may be ac- 
cepted as a reliable guide by prospective planters. 

The size of farm, sixteen hectares, is based upon 
the amount of land prescribed by Act of Congress as 
the limit of a single public land entry. The cost of 
procuring such a tract cannot be determined, but it 
would undoubtedly be low. The price of the product 
is calculated at forty-eight cents per kilo, which is the 
current figure for the best grade of cacao in the open 
market. The yield per tree is fixed at two catties, 
a conservative estimate for a tree with little or no 
cultivation. The prices for unskilled labor are given 
at one-fourth advance over the w^ages of faiTn hands 
in the Yisayas, but probably a further increase of 
twenty-five per cent, would be necessary in order to ar- 
rive at the present cost of labor in many localities. 
~Eo allowance is made for management, on the as- 
sumption that the owner would supervise the prop- 
erty. 

EXPENSES AND INCOME. 

Charges to capital account are given for the sec- 
ond, third and fourth years, but no current expenses 
are given, for the proposition contemplates sufiicient 
receipts from side crops to defray the expenses of 
the operation until the cacao trees begin to bear. 



EXPENSES AND INCOME OF CACAO. 339 

ESTIMATE or EXPENSES AND INCOME OF SIXTEEN 

HECTARES OF CACAO. 

FIRST YEAR. 

Capital account : 

Clearing average brush and timber land, 

at $15 per hectare $340.00 

Four carahao, plows, barrows, cultivators, 

carts, etc 550.00 

Breaking and preparing land, at $5 per 

hectare 80.00 

Opening main drainage canals, at $6 per 

hectare 96.00 

Tool house and store-room 200.00 

Purchase and planting 10,000 ahaca shoots, 

at 2 cents each 200.00 

Seed purchase, rearing, and planting 12,000 

cacao trees, at 3 cents each 300.00 

Contingent and incidental 174.00 

$2,000.00 

SECOND YEAR. 

Interest on investment $200.00 

Depreciation on tools, buildings, and ani- 
mals (20 per cent, of cost) 150.00 

$350.00 

THIRD YEAR. 

Interest on investment $200.00 

Depreciation as above 150.00 

$350.00 

FOURTH YEAR. 

Interest on investment $200.00 

Depreciation as above 150.00 

Building of drying house and sweat boxes, 
- capacity 20,000 kilos 450.00 

$800.00 

Total capital invested $3,500.00 



240 THE PHILIPPINES. 

FIFTH YEAB. 

Income account : 

From 11,G80 cacao trees, 300 grams cacao 

each, 3,500 kilos at 48 cents $1,080.00 

Expense account : 

Fixed interest and depreciation charges on 

investment of $3,500 $350.00 

Taxes 1^2 per cent, on a one-third valua- 
tion basis of $250 per hectare GO.OO 

Cultivating, pruning, etc., at $5.50 per 
hectare 88.00 

Fertilizing, at $6 per hectare 96.00 

Harvesting, curing, packing, 3,500 kilos 
cacao, at 10 cents per kilo 350.00 

Contingent 86.00 

$1,030.00 

Credit balance $650.00 

SIXTH YEAR. 

Income account: 

From 11,680 cacao trees, at 500 grams 

cacao each, equals 5,840 kilos at 48 cents $2,808.20 
Expense account : 

Fixed interest and depreciation charges as 

above $350.00 

Taxes as above 60.00 

Cultivating, etc., as above 88.00 

Fertilizing, at $8 per hectare 128.00 

Harvesting, etc., 5,840 kilos cacao, at 10 

cents per kilo 584.00 

Contingent 93.20 

$1,303.20 

Credit balance $1,500.00 



EXPENSES AND INCOME OF CACAO. 341 

SEVENTH YEAR. 

Income account : 
From 11,680 cacao trees, at 750 grams 
cacao each, equals 8,700 kilos, at 48 cents $4,204,80 

Expense account : 

Fixed interest charges as above $350.00 

Taxes as above GO.OO 

Cultivating, etc., as above 88.00 

Fertilizing, at $10 per hectare 160.00 

Harvest, etc., of 8,760 kilos, at 10 cents 

per kilo 876.00 

Contingent 170.80 

$1,704.80 

Credit balance $2,500.00 

EIGHTH YEAR. 

Income account: 

From 11,680 trees, at 1 kilo each, at 48 

cents $5,606.00 

Expense account : 

Fixed interest charges as above $350.00 

Taxes as above 60.00 

Cultivation, etc., as above 88.00 

Fertilizing, at $12.50 per hectare 200.00 

Harvest, etc., 11,680 kilos, at 10 cents per 

kilo 1,168.00 

Contingent 240.00 

$2,106.00 

Credit balance $3,500.00 

NINTH YEAR. 

Income account : 
From 11,680 trees, at 2 catties (1.25 kilo), 
equals 14,600 kilos each, at 48 cents . . . $7,008.00 



342 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Expense account : 
Fixed interest and depreciation charges as 

above $350.00 

Taxes, at 1^2 P^i' cent, on a one-third valu- 

tion of $500 per hectare 120.00 

Cultivation, etc., as above 88.00 

Fertilizing, at $15 per hectare 240.00 

Harvesting, etc., 14,000 kilos, at 10 cents 

per kilo 1,4G0.00 

Contingent 250.00 

$2,508.00 

Credit balance $4,500.00 

>In the tenth year there should be no increase in 
taxes, or fertilizers, and a slight increase in yield, 
sufficient to bring the net profits of the estate to the 
approximate amount of $5,000. This would equal 
a dividend of rather more than $312 per hectare y or 
about $126 per acre. 

These tables further show original capitalization 
account cost of nearly $90 per acre, and from the 
ninth year annual operating expenses of somewhat 
more than $60 per acre. It should be stated, how- 
ever, that the operating expenses are based upon a 
systematic and scientific management of the estate, 
while the returns, or income, are based upon the 
revenue from trees that are at the disadvantage of 
being without any culture whatever, and whilst it is 
improbable that either the original cost per acre, 
or the cost of operation, can be materially reduced, 
it is tolerably certain that the yield may be increased 



EXPENSES AND INCOME OF CACAO. 343 

considerably beyond two catties per tree. In the 
Cameroons, and in French Congo, trees are stated on 
indisputable authority to yield in excess of four 
pounds, or over three catties. In the Carolines the 
trees are said to give five and six pounds, and it is 
claimed that single plants in Mindanao have borne as 
much as ten pounds of seed. 

As Mr. Lyon remarks, "the difference between good 
returns and enormous profits arising from cacao grow- 
ing in the Philippines will be determined by the 
amount of knowledge, experience, and energy that 
the planter is capable of bringing to bear upon the 
culture in question." 

Whilst the foregoing estimate has taken no account 
of manager's salary, it would be indispensable to suc- 
cess that an individual or corporation investing money 
in the industry w^ithout knowledge of its details should 
secure the most experienced management possible 
without sparing expense. The cultivation of cacao is 
a very harzardous enterprise, and although recent in- 
vestigations have revealed much that will facilitate 
the culture in the future and reduce the dangers, it 
would be no more than prudent to calculate upon, 
say, one bad year in five, or, in other words, to dis- 
count the calculated profits twenty per cent. 

The enemies of cacao are numerous, and include 
worms, bugs, monkeys, and parrots. Drought may 
destroy young plants, or at least prevent a crop, 
and a hurricane, when the trees are laden, will strip 



344 THE PHILIPPINES. 

tliem of fruit. For these reasons sorae persons rec- 
ommend cacao only as a side crop and not as a 
dependence, and it would be a sheer gamble for any 
one to put all his capital into a cacao plantation. The 
prospective returns, however, are so extremely large 
in this industry and the eventual profits so certain, 
that it offers a splendid investment for capital sup- 
ported by an ample resen^e. For instance, $5,000 
put into cacao, with another $5,000 to reinforce it if 
necessary, would insure the success of the venture. 
If $750, or $1,500 local currency, were paid to a good 
manager there would be a small deficit during the 
first three or four years perhaps, although the pres- 
ence of such a man might be expected to enhance the 
receipts from the shade abaca; but in any case such 
an outlay would be in the nature of ultimate economy. 

MINOR PRODUCTS^ INDIGO^ MAIZE^ ZACATE^ TEOSINTE. 

Indigo was at one time exported in considerable 
quantities (in 1892 to the value of over $150,000) 
from the Ilocos provinces and is still produced in that 
section, but now only for the home consumption. The 
loss of the market for indigo is attributed to the 
extended use of dyes derived from coal tar, that is 
to say aniline dyes, and to the gross adulterations to 
which the Philippine product was subjected by the 
Chinese jobbers, w^ho, by-the-way, have created a 
bad name for Philippine gutta percha in the same 
manner. Twenty-five years ago the product of Ilocos 



MINOR PRODUCTS 345 

Sur fetched as miicli as 120 pesos per quintal in the 
open market; to-day 30 'pesos is a fair price for it. 
This great falling off is due mainly to the manipula- 
tion referred to above. There is still an extensive 
market for vegetable indigo, and it is believed that 
with proper cultivation and honest treatment the Phil- 
ippine product would command very much higher 
ligures. Indigo can be subjected to a high grade of 
cultivation at a cost of $40 to $50 per hectare of land 
Avhich, under such conditions, should yield at least 
four quintals of good quality dye stuff. This at, say 
$25 per quintal, would yield a fair profit. 

Indian corn is quite generally cultivated through 
the Archipelago, and in a few districts is the staple 
food of the natives, but they invariably prefer rice 
when they can get it. Maize is chiefly used as a cat- 
tle food, and for this purpose the entire plant — stalk, 
leaves and grain — is utilized. In good land maize 
seed will yield two-hundred fold and give three crops 
in a year. 

Zacate, which is forage grass of several varieties, 
is profitably groAvn in the vicinity of likely markets. 
Farmers are enabled to gather five, and even six, 
crops in the year, for which, especially in Manila, 
good prices are obtained. The grass is not cured, but 
made up into small bundles and sold for consumption 
in the green state. 

Teosinte is a very valuable annual grass which has 
recently been introduced to the Philippines, where its 



346 THE PHILIPPINES. 

adaptability has been satisfactorily demonstrated. It 
grows as high as twelve feet and from sixty to seventy 
stems are produced from a single seed. In the south- 
ern portion of the United States it has been found 
to yield crops of from twenty to fifty tons per acre. 

BAMBOO AND NIPA PALM. 

Several species of bamboo grow luxuriantly through- 
out the Archipelago. This plant is an important fac- 
tor in the domestic economy of all Oriental people. 
The Filipinos put it to many useful purposes, the 
principal being the constmction of houses, the frame- 
works of which are as a rule made of this material. 
The entire edifice is strongly constructed of vegetable 
products and without the employment of a nail. The 
bamboos are firmly bound together with hejuco, or 
rattan, and the roof is formed of a cog on or nipa 
thatch. The floors are usually of bamboo and the 
same material is used for doors, window, shutters,, 
and the rest. 

Bamboo is converted to the greatest number and 
variety of purposes ; indeed, there appears to be no 
species of domestic utility or industrial occupation, in 
which it does not play an important part. 

The variety called Cauayang totoo sometimes at- 
tains a height of more that twelve meters and a 
diameter of more than twenty centimeters. 

Nipa, or sasa, is a very useful palm of fern-like ap- 
pearance, that grows in marshy localities. It reaches 



PRIMITIVE METHODS OF AGRICULTURE. 347 

a height of four meters and throws off clusters of long 
leaves which are used, wherever they are obtainable, 
for the roofs of buildings. From the sap, nipa wine, 
or vino, is distilled, and large quantities of it are con- 
sumed by the natives as a beverage. Extensive groves 
of nipa are cultivated for the purpose of securing the 
liquor, for which there is an unlimited demand. 

THE PRIMITIVE METHODS OF PHILIPPINE 
AGRICULTURE. 

In general, the methods of agriculture followed in 
the Philippine Islands are antiquated, and often 
haphazard. The implements used are of the rudest 
description, and no more than a moderate degree of 
energy and intelligence is brought to bear upon the 
work. Perhaps the Filipino obtains better compara- 
tive results from his paddy-field than from any other 
branch of agricultural industry, but even in that, his 
favorite and oldest occupation, he falls far short of the 
maximum possibilities. It may be said of all the 
agricultural pursuits of the islands that with modern 
methods and appliances much greater areas could be 
cultivated with improvement in the grade of crops 
at no more expenditure of labor than is now applied to 
restricted operations. 

The ancient wooden plough that was introduced 
.from China centuries ago is still in general, in fact 
almost universal, use. It is drawn by a leisurely 
carabao, and does little more than scratch the ground. 



348 THE PHILIPPINES 

A wooden harrow, also attached to the inevitable 
carahao, may supplement the superficial action of 
the plough. The subsequent cultivation of the grow- 
ing crop is very meagre and often hardly enough to 
insure a harvest. Fortunately ISTature in these islands 
needs little wooing to bestow her favors bounteously.* 

Since the American occupation, attempts have been 
made to induce the native farmers to adopt the use 
of modern implements and machinery, but up to the 
present the result has not been encouraging. Of 
course the difficulty lies in breaking away from old- 
established custom and is a perfectly natural one. 
Most modern field machinery is made to be drawn 
by horses. The native cultivator is apt to think that 
anything which is beyond the capacity of his ponder- 
ous carahao must need steam for a motive power. 
The pony — there are no horses — of the Archipelago 
is a husky little beast that should make an excellent 
draft animal, and, if the demand for it in that 
capacity arose, no doubt it would easily be met. A 
place must always be found for the carahao in the 
agricultural economy of an Oriental country, but it 
would be well if the Filipino farmer could be pur- 
suaded that the useful quadruped is not all in all. 

The Guia Oficial de Filipinas gives a true and 
concise description of this remarkable animal. ''The 
carahao, or water buffalo, is the most notable quad- 
ruped found by the Spaniards when they came to 
occupy these islands. There are few animals which 



THE FILIPINO AS A LABORER. 349 

are as ugly, and there are also few which are more 
useful in agricultural labors, and which can better 
resist the enervating climate of the Philippines. Its 
color is black or brown, the hair is very scarce, the 
horns large, arched, and rough, and the head is com- 
paratively small. Its strength is enormous. It easily 
swims the wildest rivers and can haul very heavy 
loads, although its progress is slow and its movements 
awkward. It likes humidity and to roll in the mud. 
The hide and horns of the carahao are of great com- 
mercial value. The carahao begins to work after it is 
five or six years old. It lives to about thirty years.'' 

T[IE FILIPINO CONSIDERED AS A LABOKER. 

In considering the Filipino as an agriculturist we 
are prone to judge him by American standards which 
is altogether unfair. As a matter of fact he does 
more work than a casual observer is likely to sus- 
pect. Like the ryot of India, the Filipino is in his 
field at early dawn and puts in three or four hours 
before the heat becomes intense. When the shadow^s 
begin to lengthen with the decline of day he returns 
to his crops and toils for three or four other hours. 
When one considers the heat and humidity of the 
Philippine climate it must be admitted that six or 
eight hours a day is a considerable tax on a rice-fed 
man of indifferent physique. At any rate, it com- 
pares creditably with the practice of the peasantry of 
India and China, who are not subject to a similarly 



350 THE PHILIPPINES. 

enervating climate. In fact, there would not be room 
to cavil at the daily effort of the Filipino if it were 
sustained for six days a week throughout the year, but, 
as in most Roman Catholic countries, fiestas and holy 
days heavily discount the work days of a year. 

The impression that the Filipino has no backbone 
should have been removed by the agricultural achieve- 
ments of recent years in the face of a succession of 
heart-breaking calamities. The Insular Government 
did all that was possible to mitigate conditions, but 
the brunt of the struggle had necessarily to be borne 
by the peasant. When one considers that in 1902 
nearly half the carahao, upon which the farmers de- 
pend, died, it is really difficult to understand how the 
crops of the succeeding year were produced. It is 
quite probable that under similar circumstances the 
Hindu ryot would have lain down in despair and sur- 
rendered his country to famine for a succession of 
years. 

The wholesale condemnation of the Filipino day 

laborer is equally unjust. Under the superintendence 
of those who understand him he renders good service, 
and American contractors and Government officials 
who have had extensive opportunities for observation, 
express themselves as well satisfied with the native 
laborer. The average Filipino earns his wage, but 
it is too much to expect him to rival the American 
day laborer. 

The sistima inquilino, in its several forms which 



Threshing Rice. 

Where threshing mills are B&t within convenient 
distance the grain is trampled out by carabao or ponies. 
This picture was taken at the Government Rice Farm. 
Murcia, a pueblo of Negros Occidental. 



FIELD FOR AMERICANS IN THE ISLANDS. 351 

are variously termed ''tenant/' ''share," or "bene- 
ficiary" system, may be an outgrowth of the early 
system of encomiendas. It prevails in one form 
or another in almost all the agricultural indus- 
tries, and the fact of its long continuance under the 
Spaniards, who knew the natives perfectly, would 
indicate that it is best adapted to the labor conditions 
of the Archipelago. It has serious drawbacks which, 
however, it may be possible to minimize without radi- 
cal change. As a question of public policy the 
sistima inquilino, which encourages the attachment 
of the peasant to the soil, is more desirable than agri- 
cultural day labor, which tends to create a shifting 
population. 

THE FIELD FOR AMEEICANS IN THE ISLANDS. 

There has been no intention in the foregoing ac- 
count of Philippine agricultural opportunities to create 
the impression that the country is an El Dorado, offer- 
ing w^ealth for the asking without risk or effort. It 
is true, however, that few portions of the world have 
such extensive undeveloped resources as the Philip- 
pine Archipelago, and perhaps none affords a more 
promising iield for the investment of capital in mod- 
erate sums. In the countries of South America and 
Asia a large outlay is generally necessary to the suc- 
cess of industrial operations, and the question is often 
complicated by uncertain political conditions and un- 
stable laws. In the Philippines there are innumer- 



352 THE PHILIPPINES. 

able cliaiinels in which ten or twenty thousand dol- 
lars may be safely invested with large profits. Most 
of the openings in question demand skilled direction. 
This may be readily hired, or the needful experience 
may be acquired in the majority of cases without great 
difficulty by the investor during a preliminary resi- 
dence. There are in the islands many planters whose 
properties could be doubled and trebled in value 
by the introduction of modern methods and machin- 
ery, and amongst these, profitable investments on a 
partnership basis should not be difficult to find. 

It cannot be too emphaticall}^ stated that there 
is no place in the Philippines for the man without 
capital, unless he has some useful trade for the exer- 
cise of which there is an unquestionable scope. In 
either case the prospective colonist should have a 
definite idea as to the future direction of his efforts 
before leaving America. In this connection it may 
be well to state that the Bureau of Insular Affairs, 
Washington, D. C, has published a mass of useful 
information on the subject which is available to the 
public. Furthermore, Colonel Edwards and his sub- 
ordinates are ever ready to afford every assistance 
possible to enquirers. 

There can be no doubt that the islands afford ex- 
cellent fields for corporate enterprise upon a large 
scale. There are several branches of mechanical, 
mining, and agricultural industry that are well worth 
investigation by some of our large concerns. The 



FIELD FOR AMERICANS IN THE ISLANDS. 353 

Insular Government is constantly engaged in exten- 
sive public works which involve profitable contracts. 
American firms should not be deterred by the presence 
of established foreign houses and their representa- 
tives. The Philippines are in a process of trans- 
formation. New conditions and fresh opportunities 
are constantly arising. Peace and order prevail, and 
a rapid recovery from the adverse circumstances of 
recent years may be expected. 

There is every indication that the recent visit of 
Secretary Taf t and the Congressmen who accompanied 
him to the islands, will bear immediate fruit in legis- 
lation designed to expedite agricultural and mineral 
development. Duties will be removed from Philip- 
pine imports to the United States. The restrictions 
that have militated against the investment of capital 
by individuals and corporations w^ill be abated. What 
President Roosevelt in a recent public speech char- 
acterized as ''the unfortunate measures which have 
seriously, in some respects vitally, hampered the de- 
velopment of the Philippine Islands" will undoubt- 
edly be repealed. With the expected action of Con- 
gress and the inception of the railroad system the 
islands should enter, in 1906, upon an era of great 
prosperity. 

23 



PUBLIC LANDS, TIMBER, 
MINERALS, ETC. 



IX. 

PUBLIC LANDS, TIMBER, MINERALS, ETC. 

Area Under Cultivation — Forest Lands of the Archipelago 
Some Varieties of Commercial Timber — Official and Pri- 
vate Tests of Philippine Timber — Scientific Survey by 
the Insular Forestry Bureau — Wasteful Methods of 
Native Lumbering — Cost of Lumber Operation Under the 
Present System— Possibilities of the Lumber Industry- 
Forestry Regulations— Gutta Percha— The Future of the 
Gutta Percha Trade — Rubber May be a Latent Source of 
Wealth— Cattle-Raising an Inviting Field for Capital- 
Luzon Has the Finest Grass Country in the World- 
Ready Markets for Philippine Cattle— Mineral Wealth- 
Gold has Been Mined for Centuries— Iron and Coal Exist 
in Abundance. 

Pending the completion of the Government survey 
of the Archipelago, figures applying to the larger areas 
must necessarily be based upon estimates, which, 
however, have generally been made carefully and 
doubtless are approximately correct. The Spaniards 
had no exact knowledge of the area of the islands, 
nor even of their number. The Schurman Commis- 
sion in an endeavor to ascertain the extent of the 
public domain had recourse to Spanish documents 
and ''general information gathered from various 
sources, particularly from natives acquainted with 
the provinces." The conclusion arrived at was that 
the public lands equaled half the area of the Archi- 
pelago. 

( 357 ) 



358 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The Taft Commission, after more extensive re- 
search, reported (1900) as follows : ''The total amount 
of land in the Philippine Islands is approximately 
29,694,500 hectares, or 73,345,415 acres. Of this 
amount it is estimated that about 2,000,000 hectares, 
or about 4,940,000 acres, are o^\Tied by individuals, 
leaving in public lands 27,694,500 hectares, or 68,- 
405,415 acres. The land has not been sun^eyed, and 
this is mere estimate. Of the public lands there is 
about twice or three times as much forest land as 
there is waste land.'' 

The Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands in his 
report (1903) states: ''Assuming the correctness of 
my estimates of 73,000,000 acres for the total area 
of the islands, that would leave 61,000,000 acres of 
land belonging to the public domain. 

"The Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands estimates 
the forest lands on the public domain at about 40,000,- 
000 acres. This would leave an area of 21,000^000 
acres of land not forested, the most of which is agri- 
cultural in character and which will be subject to 
disposal under the law permitting leasing, selling and 
homesteading." 

The latest estimates are those of the Census, cal- 
culated by Mr. George R. Putnam, of the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey. These give the 
total area at 73,615,374, and the public domain at 
66,628,118. 



AREA UNDER CULTIVATION. 359 

Of the total area of the Archipelago only about 
5,000,000 acres, or 9.5 per cent., of the whole is arable 
land, distributed very irregularly through the prov- 
inces. La Laguna has the largest proportion with 
53.1 per cent. ; Pampanga and Sorsogon each have in 
excess of 45 per cent; Ilocos Sur, Batangas, Iloilo, 
Bulacan, La Union, Cebu, Cavite, Tarlac, Albay, 
Capiz and Kegros Occidental follow in the order 
named with agricultural lands aggregating from 21 
to 38 per cent, of their total extent. In no other 
province is the proportion as great as 20 per cent., and 
in several, inchiding Lepanto-Bontoc and Benguet of 
Luzon, it is less than 1 per cent. 

Of the total area of agricultural land 45.9 is under 
cultivation. In the matter of ratio of cultivated to 
total farm land the provinces and comandancias do 
not preserve the above order by any means. Ilocos 
Sur is first with 84.2 per cent, of its available soil in 
tilth. Jolo, which in the former classification is last 
of forty-eight territorial divisions with less than one- 
tenth of one per cent, of its land arable, is second in 
the percentage of it under cultivation ; Antique, Mas- 
bate, Albay, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Pangasinan, 
Kizal, Bulacan, Zamboanga, Manila City, Nueva Viz- 
caya, Sorsogon and Pampanga follow, all with more 
than 60 per cent. 

All Oriental people are gregarious as a result of 
temperament and the exigencies of life in the East. 
In the Philippines this tendency to congregate has 



360 THE PHILIPPINES. 

been encouraged from the earliest times by the need 
of mutual protection against such common enemies 
as the aborigines, and other Avild tribes, the More 
pirates, and ladrones. Consequently we find the in- 
habitants everywhere settled in small communities 
with no inclination to extend beyond the limits of 
actual necessity. Generally the holdings are very 
small. ^Nearly one-half of them are less than one 
hectare in size, whilst twenty per cent, are less than 
one acre. One of these little patches which would 
hardly support a cow in the United States will in the 
Philippines, with its prolific soil, contribute the main 
subsistence of a family. They will live upon it, 
and from it derive three or four different crops in 
the course of the year. 

The average size of all farms in the Archipelago, 
including the small holdings referred to above, is only 
8.57 acres, whilst in the United States it is accord- 
ing to the last census 146.6, a ratio of seventeen to 
one. 

There are upwards of 800,000 persons engaged 
more or less extensively in agriculture in the islands. 
Of this number 99.8 are full-blooded Filipinos of 
the Christian tribes. Of the remainder 778 are 
^'whites," that is, Americans and Europeans ; 308 
are half-castes of Spanish or Chinese origin, and 
959 are pure Chinese. By far the largest proportion 
of farmers own the land they cultivate ; some pay rent 
in cash and others in kind or with labor. There 



FOREST LANDS OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 361 

has always been a great deal of nncertainty about 
titles in the Philippines, bnt the difficulties on this 
score have been comparatively few owing to the great 
amount of surplus land. In 1894 the Spanish Min- 
ister for the Colonies reported to the Queen of Spain 
that there were about 200,000 squatters on the pub- 
lic lands subject to eviction by the State, but it is 
believed by officials of the Insular Government that 
at present there are at least double that number. 

FOEEST LANDS OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 

Captain George P. Ahem, U. S. A., reported 
(1902) that ''in the total of forty odd million acres 
of woodland w^e find at the very least twenty million 
acres of virgin forest. We find virgin forests in the 
provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and 
in that part of Tayabas formerly known as Principe 
and Infanta ; in fact, the entire coast of Luzon south 
of Antimonan is a virgin forest. The above-men- 
tioned forests in Luzon will aggregate an area of at 
least 3,000,000 acres. The foregoing is a conserva- 
tive estimate, and any change made later Avill doubt- 
less be to increase the estimate instead of reducing it. 
There is much merchantable timber left in the prov- 
inces of Tayabas, Camarines, parts of Bulacan and 
Bataan. 

- ''The islands of Mindoro and Paragua, each con- 
taining an area of more than 2,000,000 acres, are 
covered with a dense stand of virgin timber. 



362 THE PHILIPPINES. 

^'MindanaOj with an area of 23,000,000 acres, con- 
tains more than 10,000,000 acres of virgin forest. 
Samar and Leyte — ^both large islands — are heavily 
timbered." In these areas average stands are found 
to run to seven thousand cubic feet per acre in trees 
v^ith a diameter of over twenty inches, and some 
acres reach ten thousand cubic feet. It is character- 
istic of the Philippine forest that the species grow 
scatteringiy ; few pure stands of a single species are 
found anywhere. 

Many of the varieties of native timber are of the 
highest value and are in great demand, whilst among 
the many other kinds which are little known some 
may discover unsuspected utilities upon investigation 
and test. 

SOME VAEIETIES OF COMMERCIAL TIMBER. 

Tindalo, a dark red wood, is found in many of the 
islands. It is suitable to all kinds of construction, 
and on account of its durability and susceptibility to 
a high polish is wudely used in the East for fine 
cabinet work. 

Ipil is abundant in the Archipelago. With age 
it assumes a purple-black color resembling ebony. It 
is practically impervious to decay, pieces which have 
been in use a century showing no signs of deteriora- 
tion. It has a reputation for durability in the 
ground and where it is in contact with cement and 
mortar and is well adapted to use for railway sleepers. 
There is a large demand for it in China. 



COMMERCIAL TIMBER. 363 

Narra is called '^the mahogany of the Philippines." 
It seasons well and admits of a high degree of polish. 
It is used in cabinet work, being the material from 
which nearly all the furniture of Manila is made, but 
is a first class wood for general purposes. It is classed 
in the London market with Padouk or Burmese rose- 
wood, and is similar timber to the redwood of the 
Andaman Islands. Being impervious to the attacks 
of white ants, it is especially valuable in the East. 
There is a white species of narra which has all the 
qualities of the red variety. 

Molave is found in most of the islands. The wood 
is white. It has many excellent qualities. The tree 
produces timber from 11 to 22 feet long and from 12 
to 24 inches square. It resists sea-worm, white ants 
and other borers and is therefore valuable for many 
kinds of works where an extra durable material is 
required. It can not be surpassed for railroad sleep- 
ers, being practically everlasting. This wood has 
been identified with what, as ^^'New Zealand teak,'' 
has long been known commercially and highly prized 
for its endurance under water. 

Apitong is a greyish wood which grows abundantly 
in various parts of the Archipelago. Large quantities 
of the timber have been shipped to China, where it 
is in constant demand for the framework of houses 
and for ship's planking. 

Yacal is found in Luzon, Mindoro, and Panay. It 
grows to a height of from 12 to 20 meters. The wood 



364 THE PHILIPPINES. 

is used in the construction of buildings and in cabinet 
work. It is of a darkish yellow color, has a fine and 
solid texture, breaks with long splinters, and is proof 
against the onslaughts of white ants. 

Guijo is widely distributed throughout the Archi- 
pelago. It is a light red wood with undulating fiber, 
strong and flexible and with well-defined pores. It 
is used in ordinary and in naval construction, and 
largely for carriage wheels and shafts in Manila. 
In Hongkong it is the material for wharves, for decks, 
for flooring, and for other purposes where a tough 
and elastic wood is required. 

Lauan is found all over the islands. It is a reddish 
white wood of loose and filaceous texture with dis- 
tinctly marked pores. It is extensively used in naval 
construction, and the natives often employ it as a 
covering or sheathing for hardwood floors. It can 
be turned to the same general uses as our pine, poplar, 
and other soft woods, and has the advantage over them 
of resisting white ants. The foregoing are only a 
few of many woods of commercial importance which 
are to be found in the vast forests of the Philippines. 

OFFICIAL AND PRIVATE TESTS OF PHILIPPINE 
TIMBER. 

Captain Ahem says, '^several hundred varieties 
of native woods are received in the Manila market 
during the year. Spanish engineers tested and de- 
scribed only some seventy varieties, so that we have 



TESTS OF PHILIPPINE TIMBER. 365 

many species in the market to-day that are not popular 
owing to the lack of reliable information concerning 
their strength, durability and suitability for construc- 
tion purposes. Where strength and durability are 
especially desired there are no finer construction 
woods in the world to-day than molave, ipil, and 
yacal." 

Two of the bridges over the Pasig were laid with 
molave blocks ten years ago, and although it has been 
subjected to the heaviest traffic of the city, the pave- 
ment is practically as sound as ever. 

The Pullman Palace Car Company imported forty- 
eight logs of various Philippine hardwoods by way 
of experiment, and their superintendent declared that 
they were the best woods that ever entered their 
works, but the cost, due to heavy freight rates and 
crude methods of lumbering, prohibited their use at 
present. However, the islands have no need to look 
to the United States for a market; the demand at 
home and in the Orient for Philippine lumber is cer- 
tain to exceed the supply for years to come. 

Several varieties of ebony for which there is a con- 
stant demand in Europe and America are found in 
the Archipelago. A lumberman who has been in the 
Philippines for twenty-five yea^-s gave the following 
testimony before the Peace Commission in 1899: 
^'They have in the Philippines a wood that is better 
than ebony; it is called alintatao. It is best fitted 
for furniture, but may be used for anything you have 



366 THE PHILIPPINES. 

a mind to turn it to. It is a lasting wood. . . 
I would recommend alintatao and narra as the finest 
woods for furniture." From careful tests made by 
the Insular Forestry Bureau and comparison with re- 
sults obtained by the United States Agricultural De- 
partment, the following table has been compiled. 
Some of the Philippine group show remarkable 
strength. Apulag-amo subjected to the ^'compression 
endwise'^ strain exhibited a resistance of 15,110 
pounds per square inch ; the stress of elastic limit 
equaled 17,620 pounds per square inch, and the 
strength at rupture equaled 19,700 pounds per square 
inch. 

Philippine Woods American Woods 

Apulag-amo 15,110 Pignut hickory 10,900 

Betis 11,270 Mocliernut hickory . . 10,100 

Dungon 10,370 Butternut hickory . . . 9,600 

Molave 10,400 Pecan hickory 9,100 

Calamansapay 10,370 Cuban pine 9,080 

Dilang butiqui 9,780 White oak 8,500 

Bitanhol 9,670 Texan oak 8,100 

Ibil 9,000 Green ash 8,000 

Tindalo 8,800 Water oak 7,800 

Supa 7,230 White ash 7,200 

Tucan calao 7,170 Long leaf pine 7,930 

SCIENTIFIC SURVEY BY THE INSULAR FORESTRY 
BUREAU. 

The Insular Bureau of Forestiy is pushing the 
work of examining and surveying the* public forest 
lands as rapidly as is consistent with thoroughness 
and the force at its disposal. The surveys afford 



SCIENTIFIC SURVEY. 367 

much useful information regarding the stands and 
varieties of timber, their peculiarities of growth, 
character of the soil and rock formation. In addi- 
tion there will be notes on logging, methods and cost 
of logging, labor, means of transportation, character 
of roads and streams, as well as a topographical map 
on which will be shown the location of the valuation 
surveys, thus enabling anyone to see at a glance the 
amount and value of timber available and the possi- 
bilities of bringing it to market. The investigation 
will extend all over the islands as trained men capa- 
ble of managing such work are secured from the 
United States. This system of detailed survey has 
been in operation for four years, and a considerable 
extent of territory has been covered. 

It may be well to state that no exploration of the 
Philippine forests has ever been attempted before 
upon a similar scale, and that no scientific examina- 
tion of the stand of timber has ever been made. The 
only reliable information available on the subject is 
that which has been secured by the Insular Forestry 
Bureau and the experts employed by the Philippine 
Commission at various times to make special reports. 

The statements of casual observers are apt to be 
misleading. Foreman sums up the difficulties of 
lumbering in the islands very fairly, and concludes 
that 'Svith sufficient capital, a handsome profit is 
to be realized in this line of business.'^ Sawyer, in 
his delightfully breezy but somewhat dogmatic style, 



368 THE PHILIPPINES. 

disposes of the Philippine forests in a few para- 
graphs designed to demonstrate that they are not 
worth the w^orking. He tells us that ''the greatest 
nonsense is talked about the value of the Philippine 
forests, but in fact it is only in the fever-stricken 
island of Mindoro and in certain parts of Palawan 
and Mindanao that any large and valuable trees can 
be found. . . . In Luzon all the large trees of 
valuable timber have long ago been cut.""^ These 
and most of the other similar assertions contained in 
Sawyer's chapter on ''Porestal" are contradicted by 
established fact. 

The following matter relating to the Philippine 
forests is, in the main, derived from the official re- 
port of the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, and 
where quotation marks appear they indicate literal 
extracts from that document. 

For the most part, the forest territory is well sup- 
plied with streams sufficiently large for driving logs. 
In some cases they may require a little clearing. The 
native operations are conducted upon the simplest 
and easiest lines without regard to ultimate results. 



* For refutation of these statements see the report of the 
Chief of the Forestry Bureau ; the preliminary report on 
working plan of Bataan Province by Forester R. C. Bryant ; 
and the report of Mr. John Orr, manager of the Philippine 
Lumber and Development Company. AU of the foregoing 
are contained in the Report of the Philippine Commission, 
Part I, 1902. 



NATIVE LUMBERING. 369 

The water courses and the carabao are the only means 
of transportation from the stand. In the former case 
bamboo rafts are often needed to give buoyancy to 
the dense hardwoods and in the latter the haul must 
be adjusted to the limited capacity of the beast. As 
a consequence the native seldom gets out the largest 
treeSj and if he touches them, usually cuts at a waste- 
ful height, sometimes twelve or fourteen feet from 
the ground. Such a thing as a cross-cut saw is un- 
known in the Philippine forest. All the felling and 
other work is done with a long, narrow, single- 
bitted axe, and in order to minimize the labor the 
chopper often burns the tree partially through. The 
enormous waste involved in such crude methods may 
easily be imagined. It is estimated that of the 
amount of marketable timber cut, no more than 
thirty-five per cent, is got out. 

WASTEFUL METHODS OF ]^ATIVE LUMBERn^G. 

A fact mentioned by Captain Ahern striki-ngly 
illustrates the haphazard nature of the industry as 
carried on at present. It appears that there is in 
the vicinity of Manila a fine tract of timber land 
which has been protected up to the present by the 
presence of a slight obstruction in a stream that an 
American company would have removed in a few 
days and at a nominal expense. 

The average haul to tidcAvater is short, and ''a com- 
bination of a short line of railway with the wire cable 

24 



370 THE PHILIPPINES. 

system of logging would be ideal for a country with 
the topography that these islands present.'' In some 
localities skidding for short distances with carabao 
might be necessary in combination with the plant in 
question. 

Under the present system the licensee usually con- 
tracts with the loggers to deliver on the beach certain 
species of hewn timber. The loggers pick out the 
likeliest trees for their purpose, chop and bum them 
down, cut off such logs as their carabao can draw and 
leave a remainder of from forty to sixty per cent. 
to decay upon the ground. As a consequence of this 
method of logging the forests on many of the islands 
have been culled to a distance of two or three miles 
from the coast and in the vicinity of the larger to\\Tis. 
The Philippine Lumber and Development Company 
have found that three miles on a straight line or five 
miles following the winding of a valley are the ex- 
treme limits of profitable lumbering with the carahao. 
Successful operations on any scale of magnitude will 
depend to a great extent upon the employment of this 
animal in only an auxiliary capacity. Carahao are 
now scarce and cost from seventy-five to one hundred 
dollars. Although strong, they are not hardy beasts. 
They need to be watered several times a day, which, 
aside from the inconvenience and waste of time often 
entailed, renders their employment upon high moun- 
tain slopes, where much of the best timber is to be 
had, practically impossible. 



COST OF LUMBER OPERATIONS. 371 

l^early all the timber that is shipped to Manila 
is squared in the forest, and is usually from 12 to 24 
inches wide at the top and as long as the carabao 
will haul. This limitation leads to a great deal of 
the clear length being left in the woods to rot. Spe- 
cial efforts are, however, made to get out extra lengths 
for use in shipbuilding. The logs of dungon, betis, 
and guijo will sometimes measure from 50 to 60 feet; 
those of batitinan, mangachapuy, and palo-maria from 
19 to 32 feet. Lanan, the tree from which hancas 
are chiefly fashioned, is occasionally cut the entire 
clear length, and gives a boat from 32 to 65 feet long 
and from 24 to 48 inches wide. Lauan, and more 
especially apitong, furnish boards with a top diameter 
of 12 inches and from 82 to 98 feet long. Molave 
timbers are seldom over 16 to 32 feet long and 16 to 
32 inches square. However, there is a demand for 
the crooked, tough and durable branches of molave 
and dancalan for purposes of ship construction. 
Calantas is used mainly for cigar boxes, but also to 
a limited extent for interior finishing. It yields logs 
of 65 feet and occasionally as long as 98 feet. 

COST OF LUMBER OPERATION UNDER THE PRESENT 

SYSTEM. 

The Philippine Lumber and Development Com- 
pany pays the following scale of wages: Choppers 
and hewers, 35 cents per day, without board; trails 
builders, skidders, and drivers, 25 cents per day, 



372 THE PHILIPPINES. 

without board ; hire of carabao, 50 cents and 75 cents 
per day. For sawing the hewed timber into boards 
by hand they pay the following prices per square foot : 

Cuartos.* 

Dnngon and betis 4 

Molave, dancalan and acle 3 

Guijo and mangachapuy 2 

Apitong and lauan 1 

The cost of logs laid down on the beach varies from 
3 to 15 cents per cubic foot; the average for logs of 
superior woods is less than 10 cents. Modern facili- 
ties would greatly reduce these figures. The trans- 
portation charges per cubic foot for logs delivered in 
Manila are: From Masbate, 20 cents; from Tayabas^ 
15 to 17% cents; from Subig (by raft), 2% cents. 
Lumber companies using their own vessels would 
reduce the cost of transportation to about one-third of 
these rates. 

The following table of quotations for logs and 
boards in Manila is a fair criterion of average prices, 
but the tendency is constantly upward as the demand 
increases without any appreciable expansion of the 
local supply : 

Molave, in log, per c. f., 371/2 cents; sawed, per 
c. f., 80 cents ; M. B. M., $75.00. 

Narra, in log, per c. f ., 41% cents ; sawed, per c. f., 
831/2 cents; M. B. M., $82.50. 

♦ Cuarto equals about one-third of a cent. 



LUMBER INDUSTRY. 373 

Ipil, in log, per c. f., 34 cents ; sawed, per c. f., 74 
cents; M. B. M., $62.50. 

Giiijo, in log, per c. f., 22 cents; sawed, per c. f., 
65 cents; M. B. M., $40.00. 

Supa, in log, per c. f., 21 cents; sawed, per c. f., 
64 cents; M. B. M., $45.00. 

Lauan, in log, per c. f., 13 cents; sawed, per c. f., 
27 cents; M. B. M., $19.00. 

Tanguile, in log, per c. f., 16 cents ; sawed, per c. f., 
50 cents; U. S. C. M., $25.00. 

Apitong, in log, per c. f., I6I/2 cents; sawed, per 
c, f., 31 cents; U. S. C. M., $25.00. 

POSSIBILITIES OF THE LUMBER INDUSTRY. 

The Chief of the Forestry Bureau states that ''there 
is a demand in Manila, in fact all through the Orient, 
for construction timber ; the demand will continue as 
many important public works are in contemplation in 
the Philippines, many private enterprises will make 
demands, thousands of houses must be built, and 
when the present condition of these islands and the 
vast amount of work to be done are considered it 
would be difficult to foretell when the present high 
prices of lumber will materially lessen. . . . The 
United States market is not considered in this 
proposition. The Philippines market will be strong 
for many years. The Chinese market is always 
strong and always will be, for all of lowland China is 
without timber. The Philippine construction timber 



374 THE PHILIPPINES. 

is considered by many engineers in China the best tim- 
ber to be had in the Orient. Strong as has been the 
Chinese market for timber in the past, the future 
promises even better, as there are indications that 
foreign enterprise and capital are securing conces- 
sions which will weaken that vast Empire. 

''There are very few lumber companies here prop- 
erly equipped to handle large logs ; it will take com- 
panies contemplating such work many months to estab- 
lish themselves, to secure labor, and transportation to 
deliver their first cargo; and if such companies are 
not prepared to furnish master mechanics, expert gang 
bosses, in fact all the skilled labor required, with a 
full stock of the best supply material, it would be 
hazardous to attempt to remove the large logs which 
must be cut and brought to market if these forest 
tracts are exploited properly.'' 

At this time the Philippines are not exporting one- 
fiftieth of the lumber for which a profitable market 
could be found under scientific and economical meth- 
ods of production, w^hilst each year large quantities 
of pine and redwood enter the country from Ore- 
gon and California. A corporation with, say, $2,000,- 
000 capital operating logging roads, saw-mills and a 
fleet of sailing vessels, including barges for inter- 
island transportation, would surely return handsome 
dividends to its stockholders. The profits would per- 
mit such vessels to return in ballast, but as a matter 
of fact cargoes from Hongkong are always obtain- 



FORESTRY REGULATIONS. 375 

able, and schooners delivering at the Pacific ports 
of the United States might carry back American 
soft woods. The need of the trade for specially-built 
lumber vessels is pronounced. It is often necessary 
to cut up logs at the port of clearance in order to 
load them upon ships of limited hold capacity. Under 
present conditions the establishment of a market in 
the United States for the valuable hardwoods of the 
Philippines is impossible, but a company running 
vessels direct to Seattle or San Francisco could, with- 
out doubt, open up such a market, and create an active 
demand amongst manufacturers of high-grade fur- 
niture and finishings. By jobbing its product in this 
country the company would save all the profits from 
the forest to the factory. 

Considering the facility with which operations 
might be instituted, the known superiority of the 
product, the certainty of markets, and the high prices 
obtainable, lumbering offers the best field for the 
heavy investment of capital in the Philippines. 

FORESTRY REGULATIONS. 

Corporations giving evidence of their ability and 
intention to operate upon a scale of considerable mag- 
nitude may secure from the Forestry Bureau licenses 
for a period not to exceed twenty years. The area 
within which the company may work will be specif- 
ically defined and the trees to be cut will be indicated 
by a government forester. This official will measure 



376 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the timber felled and assess the charges. Market- 
able timber is classified in four groups, and the ter- 
ritories in two divisions. The tariff is regulated 
primarily by the character of the timber, modified, 
however, by the locality in which the operation is 
conducted. For instance, the tax upon a tree of the 
first group felled in Mindanao would not be as great 
as that upon a similar tree cut in a locality, say 
Bataan, more accessible to the Manila market. It 
is easy to conceive t^at a company operating its 
own vessels might derive an enhanced advantage from 
this arrangement. The government charge will prob- 
ably average about six per cent, of the selling price. 

Several companies are now negotiating to secure 
tracts of land large enough to justify the installation 
of modern plants, and it is likely that within the 
next few years the output of Philippine lumber will 
be very much increased. 

During 1903 upwards of five million cubic feet of 
lumber was marketed, of which 4,740,738 cubic feet, 
valued at about $175,000, came from the public for- 
ests. In the same year 87,000 board feet of native 
lumber were exported. On the other hand there were 
imported 113,483 cubic feet of lumber on commercial 
liners, as well as 6,841,207 board feet and 4,746 foot 
tons for the use of the Government. The imported 
lumber was laid down in Manila at from $37.50 to 
$48.50 for Oregon pine and at from $45 to $55 for 
redwood per thousand board feet. 



GUTTA PERCHA. 377 

Gutta Percha is one of the important products of 
the Philippine forests. Elsewhere the tree is found 
only in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and 
the small islands lying between them. Tawi Tawi 
and Southern Mindanao are the sources of the Philip- 
pine product. The gum is secured by a ruinous 
method which, unless it is checked, must ultimately 
result in extinguishing the already inadequate sup- 
ply. The practice of the native gatherers in all 
gutta percha regions is much the same. The tree is 
cut down and the bark ringed so that the milk flows 
from it at several points. The outflow is caught in 
cocoanut shells, and a tree yields at the utmost two 
pounds, which is about ten per cent, of its capacity. 
The output of the Philippine forests is handled ex- 
clusively by Chinese traders, who make enormous 
profits in the business. The prices paid to the Moros 
range from ten to fifteen pesos per picul, and pay- 
ment is frequently made in cloth and other commodi- 
ties. The Chinaman's standard picul in buying, a fic- 
titious measure created by himself, is 1621/2 pounds, 
whilst he markets the product at the Chinese picul of 
133% pounds. Singapore is the central depot for gut- 
ta percha. Practically all of the production is shipped 
there, and thence distributed. In the past fifty years 
upwards of 300,000,000 pounds of the material have 
been received at Singapore. A w^riter in ^'Opportuni- 
ties in the Philippines" suggests that these figures 
afford some clue to the number of trees which have 



378 THE PHILIPPINES. 

been destroyed in that time, calculating on a basis of 
two pounds to the tree, and allowing ten per cent, for 
wastage. The result of such a computation, however, 
would fall very short of indicating the actual extent 
of the destruction. 

The Insular Government has under consideration 
several plans for putting a stop to present methods 
in the industry, and it is likely that the production 
of gutta percha in the Philippines will become a semi- 
monopoly of the Government. Unless something of 
this sort is done the trees w^ill disappear from the 
Archipelago in the course of twenty years, if we 
may judge by the number which have been removed 
during the ten or less years that the industry has been 
in existence. 

THE GUTTA PEECHA TRADE. 

The chief, almost the sole, use to which gutta percha 
is put is in covering electric submarine and land 
cables. It is practically impervious to the action of 
water and so admirably adapted to these purposes for 
which no satisfactory substitute has been found. 
During the past decade the price and demand for the 
material have greatly increased wdth very little re- 
sponse in the supply, however. The quotation for 
the different varieties have trebled in that time. 

In recent years extensive scientific experiments 
have been made in the direction of the cultivation 
of the tree and the extraction of the latex. It is 



FUTURE OF THE GUTTA PERCHA TRADE. 379 

found that the leaf yields a good grade of gutta percha 
which on test has proved to provide a satisfactory 
insulating material. 

The fviture of the industry in the Philippines must 
depend upon planting and strict Government regula- 
tion. It would seem that a gutta percha monopoly 
conducted somewhat upon the lines of the opium 
monopoly of the Indian Government would produce 
the best results with the greatest benefit to all con- 
cerned. It would probably provide a congenial and 
certainly a profitable occupation for a large portion 
of the population of southern Mindanao and the Sulu 
Archipelago and could hardly fail to be a powerful 
factor in reducing them to orderly industry. Such 
an arrangement would also work toward a solution of 
the dato problem. The dato might be usefully em- 
ployed as a sort of supervisor in his district as the 
zamindar is in the Indian opium village. The Ben- 
gal system includes advances to the cultivator, which 
are deducted from the payment for his produce when 
he brings it in. iVnd this would necessarily be a 
feature of a governmental system of cultivating gutta 
percha in the Philippines. The Indian ryot may cul- 
tivate opium or not, as he chooses, but if he does so 
the Government undertakes to buy his produce at 
stated figures, whilst it places certain restrictions 
upon the methods of grovi:h and extraction. In 
short, the Indian opium system appears to afford an 
•admirable model for the Insular Government in the 
establishment of a state monopoly in gutta percha. 



380 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Rubber trees and vines are found in almost all 
tropical countries, but marketing the product gen- 
erally presents so many difficulties that the industry 
is profitably pursued in few parts of the world. The 
demand for rubber is permanent at good prices and 
the supply in recent years has never satisfied the 
market. The uses of the material are constantly 
extending and nothing can be found to take its place. 

RUBBER MAY BE A LATENT SOURCE OF WEALTH. 

The Philippines do not at present afford a field 
for the rubber industry, although the plant grows 
luxuriantly in the southern islands. The Forestry 
Bureau, fully alive to the importance of gTitta percha 
and rubber, is making experiments and investigations 
which should lead to the scientific and profitable cul- 
tivation of both. 

Expert opinion favors the belief that rubber plan- 
tations in the Philippines under skilled direction, em- 
ploying the best methods of extraction, should give 
rich returns to investors. This is not, however, an 
enterprise to be entered upon without ample knowl- 
edge and experience. A considerable amount of cap- 
ital is also necessary to success, for although it is 
authoritatively stated that the returns would be from 
$150 to $200 per acre, the first crop could not be ex- 
pected short of six years after planting, and it would 
be subject to some danger of destruction or damage. 
It would seem that in several of its features rubber 
cultivation resembles that of cacao. 



CATTLE-RAISING. 381 

As a result of the ravages of war and the inroads 
of rinderpest, the cattle-raising industry of the Philip- 
pines has become extinct during the past few years. 
Ten years ago large herds of cattle and horses were 
to be seen everywhere, and especially in northern 
Luzon. In 1902 Mr. Elmer Merrill reported to the 
Insular Bureau of Agriculture: ^'From enquiries 
made along the route I learned that the cattle indus- 
try w^as at one time quite prominent in ISTueva Viz- 
caya, and especially so in Isabela, but due to the 
insurrection and recent ravages of rinderpest the 
herds have been much depleted or entirely exter- 
minated. In Xueva Vizcaya I saw only about twelve 
head of cattle, but they were in magnificent condition. 
In Isabela I saw but two herds — one of about twelve 
head and one of about twenty-five — and like those 
in Nueva Vizcaya, they were in excellent condition." 
To-day there is not a herd of considerable size in the 
Archipelago. In a less degree, but very seriously, 
the number of horses has been reduced by surra and 
glanders. In order to relieve the consequent distress 
as much as possible the Insular Government imported 
large numbers of draft animals from India and 
China, but at the best this could only be a tem- 
porary measure. 

It is questionable if a native even amongst those 
who have the money could be induced to re-enter the 
industry, so fearful have they become of the dread 
rinderpest. But the investigations of the Bureau of 



382 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Agriculture lead to the belief that immunity from 
both rinderpest and surra may be secured by inocula- 
tion. However that may be, there are methods by 
which cattle raising can be carried on in the islands 
with practically no risk of disease and the returns 
for years to come would be extremely large. 

I.UZON HAS THE FIISTEST GRASS COUNTRY IN THE 

WORLD. 

Mr. Merrill states, and he is corroborated by sev- 
eral observers, that ''most magnificent grazing 
grounds exist in eastern Pangasinan, northern ISTueva 
Ecija, ISTueva Yizcaya, Isabela, and Cagayan, prob- 
ably also in the other provinces, mostly rolling up- 
lands in the three former provinces and broad level 
prairie lands in the two latter, although so far as 
abundance and quality of the grasses are concerned 
there is apparently no difference, the same species 
growing on the prairies as on the hills. These grasses 
consist of . . . fine-stemmed, fine-leaved grasses 
which in the United States would be popularly known 
as bunch grasses, as they mostly grow in small tufts, 
not being true turf-forming grasses, yet there is suf- 
ficient abundance of turf-forming or partially turf- 
forming grasses so that, notwithstanding the heavy 
tropical rains to which this region is subject during 
several months of the year, so close is the turf that 
absolutely no signs of gullying or washing were ob- 
served even on the very steep hillsides, 



A Street Scene. 

Lower-class natives of the City of Cebu. The prac- 
tice of carrying children upon the hip as shown in the 
illustration is common to many Oriental peoples. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



..issssami. 




PHILIPPINE CATTLE. 383 

which shows what may be expected if cattle are 
ever introduced here in abundance. . . . The 
grazing lands in eastern Pangasinan, northern Kueva 
Ecija, and throughout Xueva Vizcaya are character- 
ized by their rolling, hilly character, the ravines, and 
small valleys, tops of the higher hills, and surround- 
ing mountains, being densely forested, while in every 
small valley one finds streams of pure, clear water, 
it being impossible to travel three or four miles in 
any direction without finding good water. Hence it 
will be observed that there is an abundance of feed, 
water, and shelter, the requisites for an ideal cattle 
country ; and especially to be noted here are the 
topographical features of the country which in cases 
of epidemic of rinderpest are of especial value, as in 
these valleys whole herds of cattle can be isolated, and 
with a little care and watchfulness, guarded for 
months against infection by contact or through the 
water supply." 

READY MARKETS FOR PHILIPPINE CATTLE. 

There are no better grazing grounds than these 
in the United States, probably not in the world, and 
under the conditions described, cattle might be raised 
with little or no risk and of the finest quality. The 
districts in question have the advantage of proximity 
to the Manila market, whither the herds might easily 
be driven upon the hoof. Before long, however, the 
railroad will run through a great part of these graz- 
ing grounds in E^ueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija and 



384 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the Manila-Dagupan line is already sufficiently near 
to those of Pangasinan. 

At present all the meat consumed in Manila is 
shipped in on the hoof from Singapore or as refrig- 
erated meat from Australia and the United States. 
The prevailing prices are high, and would yield a 
handsome profit to local cattle raisers. It is an in- 
dustry that would require comparatively little capital 
for its prosecution in the Philippines. The stock 
would be mainly the native cattle of India and China, 
which thrive in the Archipelago. The trotting bul- 
lock of India would appear to be a likely beast for 
introduction to the Philippines, and, indeed, he is 
employed to a slight extent in Pangasinan. 

Another source of profit in this connection is hay. 
The districts under consideration would give a heavy 
yield per acre of the finest quality, and the character 
of the ground is such as to permit of cutting and har- 
vesting being done by machinery. At present thou- 
ands of tons of hay are imported from the United 
States yearly at figures that would give good returns 
to the home grower. 

A corporation that should raise sufficient cattle to 
supply the local demand and run a plant for the 
utilization of the by-product would without doubt 
realize large returns on its capital. 

MINERAL WEALTH. 

It is impossible to say anything very definite about 
the mineral resources of the Philippines. They have 



MINERAL WEALTH. 385 

never been thoroughly investigated, and what little 
mining has been done was of a desultory and not over- 
scientific character. It is an established fact that 
rich deposits of various valuable metals and of coal 
exist, but with few exceptions the precise extent and 
nature of them have not been ascertained. However, 
the investigations of the Insular Bureau of Mining 
and the discoveries of more than a thousand practical 
American miners who are prospecting in the Archi- 
pelago will throw a great deal of light upon the sub- 
ject in the near future. 

From present knowledge it would appear that th*^ 
most promising fields are in Benguet and Lepanto- 
Bontoc. The Reports of the Philippine Commis- 
sion (1902-1903) state that ''in the province of Le- 
panto at Mancayan and Suyoc there are immense 
deposits of gray copper and copper sulphide, and 
running through the ore are veins of gold-bearing 
quartz which is more or less disintegrated and in 
places is extremely rich. This copper ore has been 
assayed and the claim is made that it runs on an aver- 
age eight per cent, copper, while gold is often present 
in considerable quantities. The deposits are so exten- 
sive as to seem almost inexhaustible. ... As 
early as 1856-57 two concessions were granted to the 
Cantabro Philippine Mining Company, and an at- 
tempt was made to exploit them and market their 
product. Rude methods of mining, ruder methods 
of extracting the metal, and still more rude and 

26 



386 THE PHILIPPINES. 

primitive methods of transportation, combined with 
lack of sufficient capital and suitable labor, led to the 
abandonment of this attempt, and for more than 
twenty years the property, which in itself is a 
small claim upon the immense ledge above referred 
to, has been occupied only to the limited extent re- 
quired by the Spanish mining laws to prevent the can- 
cellation of the concession. The officer at present in 
charge of the Mining Bureau characterizes this deposit 
as an 'undoubted bonanza.' The main thing neces- 
sary to its exploitation is the opening up of a 
short line of communication with the coast.'' And 
it may be added, this is probably the chief requi- 
site to successful mining in several parts of the 
Archipelago. 

GOLD HAS BEEN MINED FOR CENTURIES. 

Gold is known to exist in various states on several 
of the islands, but to what extent it may be worked 
with profit is yet to be definitely determined. The 
Igorots have carried on placer mining for centuries 
and with apparently good returns. They never at- 
tempt extraction from rock that fails to exhibit a 
considerable quantity of free gold. Modem mining 
machinery has never been used in the country, and 
its introduction may reveal altogether unsuspected 
possibilities. In some localities the conditions are 
favorable to hydraulic mining. Prospectors in the 
Lepanto-Benguet-Bontoc district, according to the re- 



IRON AND COAL. 387 

port of the Commission, have located very extensive 
deposits of low-grade free-milling ore which will yield 
large and certain returns under scientific treatment. 
Unless the statements of those who have been work- 
ing in this region are utterly false very valuable de- 
posits have been located. These men, who are for the 
most part experienced miners from our Western 
States, have had sufficient faith in their claims to 
camp upon them for many weary months whilst w^ait- 
ing for the passage of mining regulations that would 
establish their rights and permit them to operate. 
These desiderata were effected by an act of Congress 
dated October 7, 1903, since when several mining 
enterprises of importance have been set on foot with 
good prospects of success. 

IRON AND COAL EXIST IN ABUNDANCE. 

There are undoubtedly deposits of high-grade iron 
ore in different parts of the Archipelago, but until 
the coal measures have been more extensively opened 
up iron cannot be profitably worked. Coal* is one of 
the pressing requirements of the Philippines. At 
present it is imported in large quantities from Aus- 
tralia and Japan and costs wholesale in Manila from 
$5 to $7 per ton. The production of local coal, 



* "The Coal Measures of the Philippines," C. H. Burritt, 
Bureau of Insular Affairs, Washington, D. C. This publica- 
tion is recommended to those who are interested in the sub- 
ject. 



388 THE PHILIPPINES 

which could be put upon the market at about half 
the price with profit to the miner, would give a great 
impetus to all kinds of manufacturing enterprises in 
the islands. Lignites are known to exist in Luzon, 
the Island of Batan, Mindoro, Masbate, ^N'egros, Cebu, 
Mindanao, and other islands. The island of Batan, 
which is a dependency of the Province of Albay, has 
been described as ^'a solid mass of coal." It is now 
in a process of rapid development. Several private 
corporations as well as the United States Government 
are engaged in mining upon the island. A company 
has opened rich deposits upon the east coast and has 
constructed an electric railway connecting the mines 
with a deep water harbor on Calanaga Bay. 

The Chief of the Mining Bureau is of the opinion 
that the most important of the mineral resources of 
the Philippines is the best grade of lignite of which 
there are two varieties — black and brown. The best 
coal is free from sulphur, relatively low in ash, and 
is found in the Island of Batan, in Bulalacao and 
Semarara, southern Mindanao, in Danac and Com- 
postela, Cebu; on the Gulf of Sibuguey, in southern 
Mindanao ; at Colatrava, Xegros ; and at Bislig, in 
eastern Mindanao. It is of the Tertiary age and 
similar in most important respects to the products 
of Wyoming, Washington, and Japan. Some of the 
coal of Abra, Pizal, and eastern Xegros is also be- 
lieved to be suitable for use in steamships and sta- 
tionary furnaces, but there is some difference of opin- 



IRON AND COAL. ^ 389 

ion on this score among experts. One of the most 
promising fields is that near Bulalacao. There is a 
good harbor, which affords anchorage throughout the 
year, within four or five miles of the deposits. Some 
of the Cebu coal fields enjoy similar advantages. The 
black coals can in most cases be mined free from 
pyrites ; they are firm enough for transportation ; can 
be taken out at reasonable cost, and should therefore 
be able to entirely take the place of the imported 
article in the home market and supply all the local 
demands of steamships. 

The Commission reports that '^testimony is unani- 
mous to the fact that the Philippine coals do not 
clinker, nor do they soil the boiler tubes to any 
such extent as do the Japanese and Australian coals. 
Some of them have been given practical tests in steam- 
ers engaged in the coasting trade of the Archipelago 
with very satisfactory results as regards their steam- 
making properties."* 



Taal \ olcaho. 

Thi^ several respects the most extraonlinarv 

volcano in the world. It is still active, and in the past 
has heen extremelv destructive. 



MANILA OLD AND NEW. 



X. 

MANILA OLD AND NEW. 

The Philippines Twenty Years Hence — The Legend of 
Mariveles — Cavite — The Pasig — Manila Intramiiros — The 
Cathedral — The Old Palace of the Governor-General — 
The Fortress of Santiago — Santiago's Ilkistrious Prison- 
ers — Old Manila Unsanitary, like most Si)anish Cities 
— Bonondo the Business Quarter — Costumes of the Citi- 
zens — Various Races in the Metropolis — The Suburban 
Residential Sections — Cock-Fighting the National Sport 
— The Reformation of Manila — The Commercial Destiny 
of Manila — Other Ports will share the Fortunes of the 
Capital. 

In the olden days the Spaniard went to the Phil- 
ip|)ines by way of Mexico, and sailed from Acapulco 
for Manila in the State Nao. The cumbersome, 
broad-beamed vessel, with its four-storied deck-house 
abaft, its polished brass carronada, and its sails set to 
the single mast, left port upon its perilous voyage with 
great eclat. Perhaps it carried to the insular col- 
ony a governor-general in blissful ignorance of the 
many troubles in store for him. Without doubt there 
were on board more than one frocked member of the 
class that was at once the blessing and the bane of 
-the Spanish Indies. Xeither friar, nor governor, 
could eclipse the splendor of the ship's commander, 
who v^ore a gorgeous uniform, drew a princely salary, 

[393 ] 



394 THE PHILIPPINES. 

and carried the title of ''General" with stately dig- 
nity. Fortunate the galleon if the blessed Virgin of 
Antipolo guarded it with her presence, for nine times 
had she crossed the Pacific and never once failed to 
bring her charge safely into port. 

The nao was freighted with stuffs of Spanish manu- 
facture, and its commander's cabin contained a chest 
of Mexican dollars amounting to, perhaps, three mil- 
lions with which to pay the Real Situado and re- 
imburse the Philippine merchants for their ship- 
ments. 

As the voyage neared its end, a sharp lookout would 
be maintained for the British sea-hawks to w^hom 
many a fat galleon had fallen prey, and eager eye3 
would scan the promontories of the Philippine coast 
for beacon warnings of the presence of the dreaded 
enemy. And when at length the nao sailed into the 
Bay wdtli Spanish sedateness, there was great rejoic- 
ing in the Capital. It was a jubilee occasion, and all 
Manila gave itself up to festivity. Bells rang from 
their towers, bands of music paraded the streets, 
buildings were bedecked in bunting, officials came 
forth in full uniform, and the people donned holiday 
dress. In all the churches a solemn Te Deum was 
chanted in thankfulness for the glad event. 

THE PHILIPPINES TWEI^TY YEAKS HENCE. 

Twenty years hence the American traveler bound 
for the Philippines will voyage upon a turbine-driven 



THE PHILIPPINES TWENTY YEARS HENCE. 395 

ship, one of many vessels converging from all points 
of the compass upon the Island of Luzon. He will 
land at some bustling port on the Pacific coast, per- 
haps in the Gulf of Lagonoy, thereby saving seven or 
eight hundred miles in the journey from San Fran- 
cisco. The railroad will carry him up to Manila 
through a country abounding in the fruits of the 
field, past busy towns and flourishing plantations. 
Everywhere he Avill perceive the evidences of a peo- 
ple awakening to their opportunities and happy in 
the beginnings of a vast prosperity. American capi- 
tal and American enterprise will ere then have made 
their vivifying effects felt in the land ; iron and coal 
will have begun their magic work; the steel plough 
and the harvester will have largely displaced the 
carahao and the holo; the are w^hich now returns a 
picul will then yield three. 

Manila, the future "Hub of the Orient," will, before 
twenty years have passed, be one of the most fre- 
quented ports in the East. The City will be the 
best lighted, the best paved, the best drained, and the 
best governed municipality east of Suez and Panama 
— and the promise of all these things is already in 
evidence. 

To-day one must go to Manila via Yokohama and 
Hongkong. The six hundred and thirty miles from 
the latter port, across the ever-restless China Sea, are 
covered in a small steamer of the coaster type. At 
the entrance to the Bay, which might more correctly 



396 THE PHILIPPINES. 

be termed a giilf, the vessel is still thirty miles from 
the City. Upon the left is Mariveles. A signal sta- 
tion will soon be established at this point, and here in- 
coming ships will be boarded by the customs officers, 
so enabling passengers to avoid what has been in 
the past a vexatious delay. 

THE LEGEND OF MARIVELES. 

A romantic legend attaches to Mariveles. Some- 
time in the seventeenth century, so the story runs, 
there was in one of the convents of Manila a young 
Spanish girl whose name, before she assumed the veil, 
had been Maria Yelez. The lovely recluse formed a 
liaison w^ith a monk and they decided upon a des- 
perate plan to leave the islands. Together, the girl 
disguised in a friar's frock and cowl, they tied and 
reached the village which is now called Mariveles, in 
a canoe. Here they designed to lie hidden until the 
galleon bound for Mexico passed. In the meantime 
the affair had created great excitement in Manila, 
where a hue and cry was raised, but without avail, 
until a native brought news of the whereabouts of 
the fugitives. They were found upon the open shore 
in a pitiable condition. The priest, who had been 
compelled to battle with the natives for the possession 
of his companion, was at the point of extreme ex- 
haustion, whilst the girl bordered upon insanity from 
fright and exposure. They were carried back to the 
City and effectually separated for all time. The 



THE PENINSULA OF CAVITE. 397 

friar was assigned to a remote parish among wild 
tribes and the nun was despatched to a convent in 
Mexico. 

Passing Corregidor, with its lighthouse and pic- 
turesque but harmless fort, the vessel is clear of 
the islets that beset the entrance to the Bay of Manila, 
which is sufficiently capacious to accommodate all 
the navies of the world. The roadstead has been sub- 
ject to almost the full force of the monsoons, but 
amongst the many improvements in progress is the 
construction of an ample breakwater. Four millions 
are to be expended upon Manila harbor, which will 
have a mean depth of thirty-five feet at low tide. The 
system of docks and warehouses when completed will 
surpass anything of the kind in Asia or America. 
These combined facilities must make the capital of 
the Philippines, which, according to La Perouse, oc- 
cupies '^tho finest commercial site of any city in the 
world,'' the safest and most convenient port in the 
Orient. 

THE PENINSULA OF CAVITE. 

Cavite, on its little ''fish-hook" peninsula, comes 
into view before Manila is clearly discernible. The 
projecting land upon which Cavite stands forms a 
fine harbor that probably decided the selection of the 
place for a naval depot. It was off this point that 
Montojo's ships went down, or out of action, under 
the fire of Dewey's guns. 



398 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Cavite contains the arsenal, shipyards, dry-docks, 
and repair shops of the Government. There are forts 
on the peninsula commanding every approach which, 
with proper armament, Avill be an important part of 
the defenses of the Capital. 

Manila lies low, hardly anywhere more than three 
or four feet above high water mark, and it has no lofty 
buildings, so that it breaks upon the view of the 
passenger on shipboard with the suddenness of a 
Dutch port. The present accommodation will not 
permit of large vessels approaching much nearer than 
two miles from shore, and there used to be a great 
deal of tiresome delay and difficulty about landing. 
Conditions are much mitigated since our people have 
had control, and it will not be long before ships tie 
up at docks and land their passengers from gang- 
planks. 

The traveler's immediate destination will doubtless 
be Binondo, or one of the residence suburbs, w^hich 
he may reach in a launch, or boat, but before pro- 
ceeding to a description of modern Manila we will 
take a cursory view of the Walled City, symbolical 
of an order of things which is fast passing away. 

THE PASIG EIVEE. 

The river is fairly crowded with boats of all de- 
scriptions, light draft steamers and launches, out- 
rigged hancas and dugout canoes. More conspicu- 
ous than these, and most useful of all, is the cargo 



MANILA INTRAMUROS. 399 

cascOj with its cylindrical bamboo top. The casco is 
at once a freight conveyance and a dwelling. Despite 
the utter dissimilarity of appearance, one is reminded 
of the old-time canal barges of England. There are 
the same signs of permanent occupation. Children 
hanging over the guuAvale, mothers preparing food 
in the bow and clothing stretched to dry. 

These cumbersome, but highly useful craft, are 
propelled by poling from a framework footway ex- 
tending along each side. As the management of a 
casco and the handling of its cargo require the services 
of at least two men, the boat generally houses more 
than one family. Thousands of these river-folk, in 
different parts of the islands are born, live and die 
afloat. It is a quite congenial condition, for the 
Malay is by heredity a navigator and lover of water, 
which predilection extends to its personal application 
and seems to be unfailingly innate with these people. 

MANILA INTRAMUROS. 

Manila is remarkably subject to seismic dis- 
turbances, most of which seem to have their center in 
the Taal volcano, barely thirty miles distant. On an 
average, shocks are felt in the City once a month, 
but they are usually very slight, and do no damage. 
There have been, however, thirty-three destructive 
earthquakes since the Walled City was founded. The 
greater proportion (fourteen) of these occurred in 
the nineteenth century. June the 3d, 1863, at 3.20 



400 THE PHILIPPINES. 

p. m., a violent shock threw down the Cathedral, bury- 
ing a number of worshipers and demolished twenty- 
five other public buildings, besides injuring a much 
greater number. In many places the ruins still lie 
untouched, save for the vegetation which has over- 
grown them. Portions of others afford quarters for 
vagrant natives, who share them with bats and 
monkeys. 

The Spaniards built heavily, and this applies to 
their residences as well as public structures. Thirty- 
inch walls are common in houses, whilst from ten to 
twenty feet of solid masonry are to be found in 
churches and fortifications about old Manila. 

It is not at all certain that heavy masonry affords 
the best protection against earthquakes : at all events, 
the largest buildings appear to have suffered most in 
these visitations. Good brick and mortar seem to 
withstand the shock very well, judging from the fact 
that the tall smokestack of the Insular Cold Storage 
and Ice Plant passed through an earthquake a few 
years ago without showing any mark of injury. As 
to residences, light structures, such as prevail in 
Japan, should be the least liable to destruction by 
these convulsions of the earth, but the Manila builder 
is between Scylla and Charybdis : a solid building 
will fall to the shock of earthquake, whilst a typhoon 
will rip a light one to pieces. It is seldom that 
the terranean disturbances overturn the native huts, 
but a cyclone will scatter them like chaff. 




26 



[401] 



402 THE PHILIPPINES. 

ISTothing in Manila is built over two stories in 
height, so that public edifices have not generally an 
imposing aspect, l^evertheless, as each story is ex- 
tremely high, the buildings, though almost invariably 
flat or low-roofed, are far from presenting a squat 
appearance. The Cathedral, without towers or up- 
per structures, except a stunted dome, gains a certain 
beauty from the simplicity of its straight lines and 
something of stateliness from its extensive propor- 
tions. It is the finest and most ample place of wor- 
ship in Manila, but it was erected since 1880, when 
an earthquake destroyed the former building, the 
ruins of which, incl^iding a partially-demolished bel- 
fry tower, with some of the bells still intact in their 
original positions, may be seen adjoining the present 
Cathedral. The edifice stands upon the site which 
has been thus occupied since the Archiepiscopate 
was created in 1595, with Domingo Salazar as the 
first appointee. Salazar, a grand old man, whose 
zeal for the welfare of the Colony was unbounded, 
made the long and arduous journey to Spain and 
back when he was verging upon his eightieth year 
for the purpose of laying the needs of his bishopric 
before the King. He died in Manila whilst the 
Papal Bull authorizing his investiture as the first 
Archbishop was crossing the seas. 

The eighteenth century map of Manila gives the 
Cathedral first place, and, indeed, it represented 
politically and socially the first power of the Colony. 



THE CATHEDRAL. 403 

At the time of the most direful peril to the Philip- 
pines, when Li Ma Hung, the Chinese corsair, came 
near to possessing himself of the islands, the aid of 
Saint Andrew was particularly invoked, and when 
the danger had safely passed he was declared to be 
henceforth the patron saint of Manila. In commem- 
oration of the happy deliverance the Funcion votive 
de San Andres was thereafter celebrated on the 30th 
of ^November of every year, when all Manila attended 
High Mass at the Cathedral. The ecclesiastical au- 
thorities made this the occasion of a ceremony de- 
signed to indicate the supremacy of the Church. The 
Standard of Spain was spread upon the pavement of 
the nave and the Metropolitan walked over it. In 
recent years the protests of the Governor-General led 
to the abandonment of this practice and instead of 
it the flag Avas thrice lowered before the altar. 

The Cathedral was the point from Avhich all pro- 
cessions started and at which they all ended. Manila 
delighted in her numerous holidays and the profes- 
sions with which they wound up at night. Along 
each side of the street would walk, in single file, men, 
women, and children, each bearing a lighted candle, 
whilst down the centre would come bands of music 
preceding groups of priests, who escorted images of 
the Saviour, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints, borne 
upon the shoulders of perhaps as many as thirty 
men. Some of these images were ablaze with gems 
said to be real, and, if so, of enormous value. Such 



404 THE PHILIPPINES. 

images had an additional guard of soldiers with fixed 
bayonets. The course of the parade was marked by 
the explosion of bombs and rockets at intervals. 

THE OLD PALACE OF THE GOVERNOK-GENERAL. 

Upon the western side of the Cathedral square, 
which was in some sort the public square of the City, 
stands what was the Palace of the Governor-General. 
The present Palace, which, like the Cathedral, occu- 
pies a site that has been devoted to the same purpose 
from the beginning of the City, dates since the earth- 
quake of 1863, but the residence of the chief executive 
was in the modern portion of Manila for several years 
before the Spanish evacuation. The Palace is a large 
building, with spacious apartments. It conforms to 
the general rule of two stories, with all the reception 
and living rooms on the upper floor. A broad stair- 
case, flanked on either side by a carved presentment 
of the Lion of Castile, gives ascent to a landing, 
upon which stands a life-size marble statue of Magel- 
lan. Upon the right and left hand of the statue 
are lofty entrances to a splendid hall one hundred feet 
long and half as wide. With its polished parquetry 
floor a more delightful dance-room could not be 
imagined, and doubtless it has often been given over 
to that favorite amusement of the Spaniards. The 
walls are hung with full-size paintings of Spanish 
celebrities, recalling many a dark deed and many a 
bright achievement. Returning to the landing, a 



PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL. 405 

stairway upon each side affords ascent to the main 
floor. The principal apartment is the Council Cham- 
ber, furnished with a large carved table and heavy 
chairs bearing the Eoyal Arms. Many a strange and 
stormy scene was enacted around this table during 
the incessant conflict of Church and State. The win- 
dows give upon the square, and it may have been from 
a similar vantage point in a former building that 
stout old Bustamente watched the approach of the 
mob that did him to death. 

There are no entire buildings in Manila that can 
boast of very great antiquity, the Church of San 
Augustine being probably the oldest. The City has 
been so often subjected to destructive forces that what 
structures escaped one, fell to another. The general 
aspect is one of old age due to the common practice 
of preserving old styles and employing old material 
in reconstruction. In many cases surviving portions 
of a former structure have been included in its suc- 
cessor. One constantly comes across quaint corners 
and curious nooks that have all the appearance of 
being many hundred years old, and, of course, there 
are bits of architecture here and there that date back 
to the sixteenth century. Several of the ecclesiastical 
buildings are of the type of mission architecture char- 
acteristic of similar Spanish edifices in Mexico and 
California. The church of San Juan del Monte, 
which antedates most of those in Manila is a striking 
example of this type. 



406 THE PHILIPPINES. 

In the acute angle of the walls, just at the point 
where the Eiver merges into the Bay, is the Fortress 
of Santiago, which for many years acted as an 
efficient watchdog over the sleepy City lying behind 
it. More than once it has been the last refuge of 
the Spaniards, when enemies have gained within the 
walls. In 1574 — but this was before the Walled 
City was built — the gallant Salcedo at this point made 
his final stand against Li Ma Hung's barbarian band. 

Many a victim of injustice and revenge has pined 
within the dark, damp, and noisome dungeons of San- 
tiago. Its walls have often echoed to the shrieks of 
tortured prisoners. Some have found relief in death, 
others at the garrote or from the bullets of Spanish 
soldiers. In times of disturbance the capacity of 
the place has been taxed to the utmost, and men have 
been crowded into the cells, literally as cattle are 
massed in a freight car, with the result that the weak- 
est saved the courts all further consideration of their 
cases by dying there and then. 

During the Tagalog Rebellion, the dungeons were 
always packed full. Into some of them the river 
trickled at high tide so that twice a day the unfor- 
tunate prisoners stood in water up to their waists. A 
fearful tragedy was caused by an officer who, through 
inadvertence or design, caused the sole source of 
ventilation to be closed. The next day eighty corpses 
were removed from the place, but life was cheap and 
prison room scarce, and the affair does not appear to 



SANTIAGO'S ILLUSTRIOUS PRISONERS. 407 

have disturbed the equanimity of the authorities in 
the slightest degree. 

SAT^TIAGO S ILLUSTRIOUS PRISONERS. 

The long roll of prisoners in the Fortress of San- 
tiago includes both sexes and the representatives of 
all classes and of every rank from the humble fisher- 
man to the proud archbishop. I^ot the least sad of 
the stories connected with it relate to men of high de- 
gree^ for, in the kaleidoscopic changes of political 
affairs in the Philippines no man knew where the 
morrow might find him. 

Jose Torralba, who had served as acting-Governor 
for a term of two years, was confined in the Fortress 
on a charge of embezzling the public funds. The 
investigation and trial moved with the customary 
Spanish tardiness, and seventeen years elapsed before 
sentence was finally pronounced. It included ban- 
ishment, but, as the old man was then verging upon 
the grave, he was permitted to remain and beg his 
bread in the City over which he had ruled. Torralba 
died in 1736 in the Hospitals of San Juan de Dios, 
over against the eastern ramparts. 

Hurtado de Corcuera, who governed from 1635 
to 1644, suffered five years' confinement at the insti- 
gation of the ecclesiastics. In the end, however, he 
was fortunate enough to regain the royal favor and 
to receive the governorship of the Canaries. 

'Not so happily did the quarrel of another governor 



408 THE PHILIPHNES 

with, the Church terminate. Diego Salcedo was seized 
by the agents of the Inquisition in the Palace and 
thrown into a dungeon in the Fortress, where for 
many years he suffered cruel treatment. Death came 
as a welcome release on board a galleon which was 
bearing him a prisoner to Mexico, 

In 1751 Sultan Muhammad Ali Mudin of Sulu, 
his brother, sister, and four daughters, together with 
about two hundred retainers, who had mistakenly con- 
fided in the honor of the Spanish authorities, were 
imprisoned in Santiago, and there Prince Asin, the 
Sultan's brother, died. 

The citadel is the oldest portion of Manila. It is 
said that parts of it date from the foundation of 
the City. Its walls are enormously thick and, until 
recent years, were able to defy the heaviest artillery 
that could be brought against them. The old Port 
has seen the City swept by cyclones, shaken by earth- 
quakes, devoured by fire, sacked by invaders, in the 
grip of pestilence, and, finally, in the possession of 
a foreign people. Strangest fortune of all, its subter- 
ranean dungeons have been condemned to desuetude. 

OLD MAKILA. UNSANITARY^ LIKE MOST SPANISH CITIES. 

Manila Intramuros is occupied mainly by the old 
government buildings and those belonging to the 
monastic orders. In the shadows of these, huddle 
miserable native hovels in dense disorder. The 
streets, laid out at right angles, are wide enough for 



OLD MANILA. 409 

the requirements of the moderate traffic, but the 
sidewalks, overhung by the upper stories of the 
houses, are inconveniently narrow. 

Old Manila has always been a fearfully unsanitary 
place. It has never had any kind of sewerage system. 
A description of the private arrangements of resi- 
dences is not fit to print. The drainage of houses 
passed into the river, the streets, and the moat. The 
moat long since became such a sink of fetid refuse 
that it was rightfully decided that to disturb it would 
be to court an outbreak of pestilence. The American 
administration is disposing of this long-standing 
menace to health by filling it up and converting it 
into flower beds. 

The walls of the City, which were erected in the 
time of Governor Dasmarinas, are more than two 
miles in extent. Along the ramparts are mediaeval 
cannon, that long since ceased to be of any value, 
save as curiosities. There are eight gates with draw- 
bridges and portcullises. Until 1854 the gates were 
closed at eleven o'clock every night, when the clumsy 
drawbridges were raised. 

Manila Intramuros presents the most perfect type 
extant of the old-time Walled City. The walls long 
ago ceased to serve any useful purpose, whilst they 
have deprived the inhabitants of much-needed fresh 
air. However, perhaps antiquarian motives should 
be sufficiently strong to preserve these old relics of 
Spanish sovereignty, which were constructed in 1590 



410 THE PHILIPPINES. 

upon the site selected by Lopez de Legaspi. There 
is the most striking contrast between old and new 
Manila. The former suggests a drow^sy and decrepit 
grandsire persisting in the garb and habits of his 
youth. It has no business, aside from a few retail 
shops ; no places of amusement, comparatively few 
residences, and nothing of the life and bustle of the 
modern City. 

BIlSrONDO^ THE BUSINESS QUARTER. 

Binondo, which lies on the right bank of the Pasig, 
exactly opposite the Walled City, is the business quar- 
ter. Here the streets are alive with hurrying vehicles 
and more leisurely humanity. The chief business 
street is the Escolta, whose shops compare favorably 
with those of other Eastern cities. The majority of 
owners are Europeans, Americans, or mestizos. The 
Chinese shops, which are rarely patronized by the 
,white population, are in the Rosario. They are 
small, insignificant-looking places, but many of the 
proprietors are said to be extremely wealthy. 

During the old regime what signs of enterprise 
could be seen in Manila were limited to this side of 
the river. The Spanish ofiicial, whose stay was uncer- 
tain, and seldom extended over more than a few 
years, displayed no interest in improvements, and 
hardly an ordinary regard for his own comfort. His 
sole idea was to accumulate as much money as possi- 
ble and to return to the ^'peninsula." The foreign 



BINONDO, THE BUSINESS QUARTER. 411 

merchants, on the other hand, many of whom have 
been in the country for from ten to twenty years, 
encourage measures for public benefit and the im- 
provement of the City, build for themselves handsome 
houses and beautify their surroundings. 

Cigar-making is the principal manufacturing in- 
dustry of the City. Some of the factories are very 
large and employ two thousand and more workers. 
There are in Manila twenty thousand cigarmakers, 
ninety per cent, of whom are women and girls, and 
a large proportion of these mestizas of Chinese 
extraction. 

The public vehicles are of three classes. The con- 
veyance patronized by the whites, and the well-to-do 
mestizos is the carruage, on the Victoria pattern and 
drawn by two ponies. The quelis is a small, square 
box-like vehicle on two wheels with seats inside for 
four passengers. It does not require much room, 
and has a commendable facility for dodging through 
crowded thoroughfares. The caromata is the native 
conveyance. It is merely a frame with a low rail 
round it and board seats along the sides, but its car- 
rying capacity is only limited by its superficial 
area. The driver sits upon the forward edge, or 
squats inside, with his fares. 

Before the American occupation a one-horse tram- 
way, with cars of the ''bobtail" variety, was the sole 
means of ''rapid" transportation through the most 
frequented sections. An up-to-date electric street 



412 THE PHILIPPINES. 

railway has taken its place and bids fair to put most 
of the hack-drivers out of business. 

COSTUMES OF THE CITIZENS. 

The whites wear the usual costume of the tropics, 
consisting of a suit of white duck, or linen, with 
jacket buttoning to the throat and a pith helmet or 
Terai hat. 

Some natives, and many mestizos, dress in a sim- 
ilar manner, but their garb in general is limited 
to a pair of trousers, often rolled up to the knees, and 
a shirt tout expose. A derby hat is a common 
addition. 

The mestizay and better class of native women, 
affect a rather stiff, but not altogether unbecoming, at- 
tire. Over a chemise is worn a thin and transparent 
camisa, open at the neck and with voluminous sleeves, 
flowing loose from the shoulders. Over this a stiff 
kerchief is fastened. The skirt is usually colored and 
patterned, with a long train. On the street the tapis, 
a piece of dark glossy cloth, is wrapped around the 
limbs from the waist to the knees. The materials 
are more or less expensive, pina being used by those 
who can afford it. Upon the feet slippers are worn. 
The hair is drawn back from the forehead and knotted 
Japanese fashion, or allowed to fall loose. It is 
always well kept and generally very long and beau- 
tiful. 

The native children are almost invariably bare- 




> 'a 



0> 



3 

to 



3 



CO 









"* Eos: 01 

S wm-t 



I 



n 



nniy?/>f 



[413] 



414 THE PHILIPPINES. 

legged and bareheaded, with the occasional exception 
of some enterprising urchin who has managed to 
acquire the cast-off headgear of a European and 
wears it with uncomfortable pride. The boys wear 
short white cotton breeches and a shirt of the same 
material. The tails of the Filipino shirt are always 
left free to the breeze. The girls have long skirts, 
knot their hair, and look like their mothers in 
miniature. 

The Chinaman adheres to the costume of his native 
land, but his women — and he may have one or more 
native concubines in addition to a wife of his race — 
usually adopt the Filipino dress. The Chinaman is 
almost invariably a good father to his half-breed 
children. They are well taken care of, are initiated 
into the father's business, or taught some other, and 
both girls and boys, with few exceptions, get along 
comfortably in after life. 

VARIOUS RACES IN THE METROPOLIS. 

By far the majority of Chinese in Manila are 
coolies, and it is safe to say that they are the most 
hard-working class in the community. The mechan- 
ical industries are mainly in the hands of these 
remarkably adaptable people, who can apply them- 
selves to any work, hoAvever unaccustomed, and do 
it remarkably well. It is questionable w^hether any 
people in the world can compete with the Mongol 
in manual labor, and the Filipino is certainly no 



VARIOUS RACES IN THE METROPOLIS. 415 

match for him. The Chinaman is capable of working 
sixteen hours in the day continuously, and his intelli- 
gence is of a higher order than is generally suspected. 
But for the repressive measures that have always been 
in force in the Philippines the Chinese would have 
practically owned the country years ago. 

The Spanish half-breeds are a numerous and influ- 
ential class. They are the intellectual superiors of 
the full-blooded natives, and have the advantage of 
them in the matter of education. Many of these 
mestizos are well-to-do and some of them wealthy. 
When their circumstances will permit they are accus- 
tomed to send their sons to college in Europe, where 
they almost invariably prove apt pupils. 

The mestizos act as middlemen between the plant- 
ers and the European representatives of the export 
houses, and in this capacity accumulate a great deal 
of money. Upon them the larger cultivators depend 
for the capital with which to carry on their operations. 
The planter ahvays pays an exorbitant rate for his 
loans, sometimes as much as fifty per cent. 

These half-breeds, like all Eurasians, occupy an 
equivocal position in the community. They are con- 
stantly striving to disassociate themselves from their 
native connections and to secure the consideration 
enjoyed by the superior race. Everywhere in the 
East the Eurasian displays the same petty traits of 
sycophancy, quervilons discontent, disingenuousness, 
and inordinate conceit. If this element does not 



416 THE PHILIPPINES. 

prove troublesome to the American administration it 
^yill only be because the recognition accorded to them 
is flattering to their self-esteem and because of a 
realization that under a native government their lot 
would be a less happy one. 

THE SUBUIiBA^ EESIDEXTIAL SECTIONS. 

The white population live for the most part in 
the attractive sections of Ermita and Malate, along 
the sea-front, south of the Walled City, and in San 
Miguel on the northern bank of the River. The 
last-named suburb, which is reached by the Ayala 
Bridge, contains several very handsome houses stand- 
ing in attractive gardens. The lower of the two 
stories of residences is much more solidly constructed 
than the upper. All the living rooms are above, the 
ground floor being given over to servants' quarters, 
store-rooms, and similar purposes. The outer walls, 
of the second story are fitted with sliding frames, 
in which are set small squares of translucent oyster 
shell, the common substitute for glass in Manila. 
This arrangement permits of the interior of the house 
being thrown wide open to the air in the evening. 
Plaster is dispensed with for the same reason that 
prohibits the use of glass. The walls are white- 
washed and the ceiling is of canvas. Hardwood is 
employed for beams, posts, floors, and the rest, and 
carpets and upholstery are conspicuous by their 
absence. 



SUBURBAN RESIDENTIAL SECTIONS. 417 

Life in Manila is very much like that in an East 
Indian city, Calcutta, for instance. The business of 
the day over, the entire white population repairs to 
the Luneta, which is to Manila what the Esplanade 
is to Calcutta, or the Marina to Madras. Upon an 
oval grass promenade the band plays every evening, 
whilst carriages circle round in one direction, the 
Governor-General and Archbishop only, having been 
allowed to drive in the other. Everyone owns a pri- 
vate Victoria or barouche, to which two of the country 
horses are driven. Many of the turnouts with their 
liveried cocheros are quite smart. 

There are few public amusements, and those not 
of a very high order. There is plenty of good music. 
The Filipino has his full share of the universal 
Malay taste in this direction, but his talent rarely 
rises above mediocre. However, native bands and 
orchestras give excellent renderings of marches and 
dance music, which generally answer all the demands 
of their audiences. 

Bull-fights and combats between various ^'wild'^ 
beasts used to be given, but they were generally 
fiascos on account of the lack of combative qualities 
displayed by the brutes engaged in them. There is 
a jockey club in the City, which holds meetings 
twice a year, members only being permitted to ride. 

The Philippine ^'pony'' is in reality an undersized 
horse, for in no respect, but its height, does it resem- 
ble the pony breed. These animals are said to be 

27 



418 THE PHILIPPINES. 

derived from Mexican horses, introduced by the 
Spaniards in the sixteenth century. They are good- 
looking beasts, remarkably strong, and, Avith training, 
capable of developing great speed. It is claimed that 
the mile has been done in two minutes and ten sec- 
onds on the Santa Mesa race-course by a native pony 
carrying one hundred and fifty pounds. 

COCK-riGIITIXG THE XATIOXAL SPOET. 

The national sport of the Filipinos is cock-fighting. 
There are in and about Manila upwards of one hun- 
dred buildings containing cockpits, some of them 
capable of holding more than five thousand people, 
and every barrio in the provinces has its arena. 

Aside from the sport, cock-fighting affords a con- 
venient medium for gratifying the Filipino passion 
for gambling. Every native owns a bird, which he 
carries about with him tucked under his arm or 
perched upon his shoulder. It is no uncommon 
thing for two men meeting, thus provided for a fight, 
to squat in the roadway and set their champions at 
each other. 

This pastime was under government regulation. 
Sundays and feast days, and in Manila Thursdays 
besides, were the legalized occasions for gallinacean 
combats. At these times every native who can com- 
mand the price of admission betakes him to the near- 
est cockpit, and if he has the wherewithal to make a 
wager he is a happy man. The licenses for conduct- 



COCK-FIGHTING THE NATIONAL SPORT. 419 

iiig cock-figlits produced a considerable revenue to 
the Spanish Government, which derived income from 
various other forms of gambling. The privilege for 
a certain section was put up to the highest bidder, 
who had the right to prevent any one else from engag- 
ing in the business within the limits of the district 
assigned to him. 

The building containing the pit is surrounded by a 
high wall or fence, forming a courtyard in which 
the birds are kept awaiting their turns to fight. 
Within, the arena is surrounded by circular tiers of 
seats. The o^vners of the contending cocks bring 
them into the ring and display them, each armed with 
a single long steel spur sharpened to a razor-edge. 
Whilst the birds are thus being subjected to the 
inspection and criticism of the spectators bookmakers 
are circulating about taking bets. Although the in- 
dividual wagers seldom exceed a few dollars, large 
sums in the aggregate frequently change hands on 
the results of these flukey fights. 

The contest is usually over in two or three min- 
utes, for one or other of the birds is likely to be 
quickly killed or disabled, or to turn tail, which is 
recognized as the most ignominious defeat. During 
the set-to the spectators maintain the utmost silence 
save for muttered exclamations at some critical mo- 
ment. Their craned necks and tense expression pro- 
claim the keen excitement, to which they give vent 
in shouts when a decision is announced. As bets 



420 THE PHILIPPINES. 

are settled immediately after each event and all the 
currency is coin, the hubbub at the termination of 
a bout is pleasingly toned down by the musical jingle 
of money. 

Chance seems to be by far the most important 
factor in these cock-fights, although that opinion is 
not generally entertained by the natives. The fi.rst 
blov7, if it happens to fall on the head or neck, is 
calculated to place the recipient hors de combat. Of 
course a quick and plucky game fowl is likely to beat 
an opponent that lacks these qualities, but luck on the 
other side may easily bring about a contrary result. 
There is no denying that the Filipino loves his game- 
cock, but perhaps it is exaggeration to assert, as has 
often been done, that it holds the first place in his 
affections, and that in case of his dwelling taking fire 
he will convey his prized bird to a place of safety be- 
fore looking after his wife and children. 

THE EEFOEMATIOI^ OF MANILA. 

Manila is rapidly undergoing transformation. In- 
tramuros defies any great changes in its condition, 
and, beyond relieving its unsanitary state, perhaps lit- 
tle can be done to it, but the modern City is in course 
of complete reformation. The traveler experiences 
it before he has cleared the custom house, and evi- 
dences of it present themselves at every turn in the 
streets. 

During 1904 nearly four millions were expended 



THE REFORMATION OF MANILA. 421 

in local improvements by the Government, not to 

mention the large sums invested by corporations in 

enterprises of public utility. Twenty-five miles of 

streets have been widened and paved, macadamized 

roads have been laid to all the suburbs. Thirty-five 

miles of electric railroad are in operation, and ten 

more will shortly be added. Many handsome public 

buildings have been erected, and others are in process 

of construction. Amongst these are a number of 

model school-houses, the first of the kind to be erected 

in the East. A special commission of American 

architects visited the Philippines in the Spring of 

1905 for the purpose of planning a system of parks, 

boulevards, and government edifices which, when 

completed, will make Manila one of the most beautiful 

cities in the w^orld.^ 

An extensive system of sewerage, sufiicient for 

double the present population of two hundred and 

twenty thousand, is now being laid at an expense of 

over three million dollars. The accumulated filth 

of centuries has been removed, and the streets are 



* The Commission, which was composed of Messrs. D. H. 
Burnham and Peirce Anderson, also planned the proposed 
city of Baguio, in the mountains of Benguet. It is very 
much regretted that the drawings of these plans, for which 
the writer is indebted to the courtesy of Mr, Burnham, could 
not be reproduced without a loss of detail, which would 
have marred the effect. The portion of the plan of Manila 
showing the improvements on the water front has been 
redrawn. 



422 THE PHILIPPINES. 

now cleaned with daily regularity. The result of 
these measures of sanitation is already seen in the 
recorded bill of health of Manila which compares 
favorably with that of large cities the Avorld over, 
and is better than that of large centres on the con- 
tinent of Asia. Crematories for the destruction of 
garbage are in operation, and the water supply is 
being enlarged and improved. 

Manila's fire department is the wonder of the 
Orient. Even the Japanese, who have for years con- 
sidered that they had nothing to learn in their own 
quarter of the globe, send their fire officials over to 
Manila to study the system. Formerly the City was at 
the mercy of a few antiquated hand engines, manned 
by natives and captained by an officer without any 
experience. The Insular Government secured the 
services of Chief Bonner, of Xew York, and fur- 
nished him liberally with the most modern equip- 
ment. ISTow the alarm of a fire in Manila is responded 
to with the snap and vim customary in an American 
city. 

Manila presents the unique spectacle of white 
men working with unimpaired energy in the tropics 
to convert a sloth-ridden city into a model for all 
the governments of the East. 

THE COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF MANILA. 

These efforts, tending to promote the health, edu- 
cation and material betterment of the people, are not 



Primitive Transportation. 

The new order of things and the old exist side by 
side. In sight of telephone wires, electric lights, and 
street-railway tracks the native rides his oarabao on 
one of the principal streets of Manila. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & TTndcrwood. New York. 



COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF MANILA. 423 

inconsistent with the view that in its commercial pos- 
sibilities lies the chief importance of the Archipelago. 
Indeed, no factor is more surely calculated to further 
the humanitarian projects of the administration than 
the development of internal industries and the expan- 
sion of the trade of the islands. Manila occupies a 
commanding position with reference to the traffic of 
the mainland of Asia, the Malay Peninsula, and 
the islands of Indonesia. With the opening of the 
Panama Canal^ the trade route between the Atlantic 
ports of America and Oriental points will be entirely 
changed and much of the freight which is now borne 
from Europe by way of the Suez Canal and the 
Cape to the same destinations may be expected to take 

the Pacific course, not solely from motives of econ- 
omy, but also because the present route through the 
Indian Ocean, the Strait of Malacca, and the China 
Sea, entails great difficulties and dangers of naviga- 
tion at certain seasons of the year. Under such con- 
ditions much, if not most, of the collecting and dis- 
tributing trade of Hongkong would naturally accrue 
to Manila, w^hich would then lie in the main route 
of Eurasian traffic. 

Within easy reach of the Philippines is more than 
half of the people of the globe. China has a popula- 
tion of 400,000,000; the East Indies, including the 
possessions of Great Britain, France, and Holland, 
approximate 350,000,000; Japan has 42,000,000; 
Australasia, 5,000,000; Siam, 5,000,000, and the 



424 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Straits Settlements, 600,000, a total in excess of 
800,000,000. 

A great number of these people are not at present 
within the zones of the world's traffic, but large 
areas, formerly remote, are being constantly brought 
into trade relations with other countries by the open- 
ing up of systems of transportation. This applies 
with force to China, whose vast inland territory has 
been tapped in various directions by new railroads 
during recent years, whilst projects for extensions, 
involving several thousand miles, are either on foot, 
or under consideration. China is in process of com- 
mercial regeneration and her closer relations with 
Japan will surely give a great impetus to the devel- 
opment of the country. 

China was the first customer of the Philippines, 
and has always been one of the best. She can already 
use more of the products of the Archipelago than she 
is receiving, and, with the increase of her necessities, 
she will find no more convenient or economical market 
in which to buy many of her staple commodities. 
Her capacity for the consumption of Philippine lum- 
ber will doubtless continue to exceed the ability to 
meet it. Her increasing demand for sugar will find 
a response from the islands. She will need coal and 
Manila hemp as her industries develop and, in a few 
years, it is probable that the Philippines will be in 
a position to supply her with considerable quantities 
of dress-stuffs and yarns. On the other hand, the 




[425] 



426 THE PHILIPPINES. 

population of the Philippine Islands, as they convert 
ever-increasing areas of paddy-land to more profit- 
able uses, will look to China for greater quantities 
of rice. 

The commerce, export and import, exclusive of 
bullion, of the countries neighboring the Philippines, 
exceeds two thousand million dollars a year, about 
equally divided between outsend and intake. ]^ext to 
Great Britain, the United States already has the 
largest part of this commerce. 

OTHEE POKTS WILL SHAKE THE FORTUI^ES OF THE 

CAPITAL. 

The problem confronting the islands is how to de- 
velop their resources so as to be able to secure a great 
share of this trade. There are ready markets near 
at hand, and a constant demand in these markets 
for many million dollars worth of raw and manufac- 
tured goods that might be produced in the Archi- 
pelago under conditions that would enable, its shippers 
successfully to meet any competition. There will 
never be lack of customers for the produce when it is 
put upon the market. The economic principles in- 
volved in the situation are so pronouncedly in favor 
of the growth of the Philippines into one of the 
richest industrial territories in the East that such a 
consummation is only a matter of time. 

The development of other ports will be coincident 
with the commercial expansion of Manila. Iloilo 



FORTUNES OF THE CAPITAL. 427 

is rapidly rising to the rank of a shipping centre 
of the first importance. With the adequate exploita- 
tion of the rich Cagayan Valley, Aparri Avill become 
a flourishing port. Before many years have passed 
some point on the Pacific coast of Luzon will receive 
a considerable proportion of the freight from the 
eastward and will tranship it to Manila by rail. 



LUZON. 



A Humble Home. 

These nipa huts are exceeding cool and comfortable; 
Not a nail is used in their construction and the nearby 
forest supplies all the necessary material. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



XI. 

LUZON. 

Travel by Water in the Philippines — Filipino Hospitality is 
Inexhaustible— Home Life of the Tagals— A Filipino 
Wedding— The Religious Bond Not Very Strong— The 
Simple Life in the Philippines — Tho Inevitable Carabao 
^Some of the Characteristics of the Filipino Peasant — 
They Have Their Superstitions Like All People — A 
Typical Village Fiesta — A Planter's Home — A Never- 
Failing Source of Entertainment — The Principal Feature 
of the Feast — Native Pantomime Dances — The Moro- 
Moro Play. 

Travel in the Philippines is quite haphazard as to 
its methods, but it has all the charm of variety and 
novelty to the native of a western clime. There is no 
occasion for time-tables nor for making prearrange- 
ments except of the most general character. At each 
point the manner of proceeding to the next will be 
determined by the conditions of the moment. But, 
despite the lack of regular lines of communication 
between any but the centres, the difficulty in travel 
to even remote parts is not so great as to deter 
any healthy man, and the mishaps and adventures 
that must always attend journeys in an undeveloped 
country are such as to lend zest to the undertaking. 

TEAVEL BY WATER IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

The physical character of Luzon makes transporta- 
tion by water one of the most convenient and ready 

(431 ) 



432 THE PHILIPPINES. 

means of getting from place to place, and the absence 
of roads, or the badness of them, in some sections 
compels the traveler to make a detour by sea, or to 
take to the river. In a few instances a coasting 
steamer will be available, but more often the native 
sailing craft must be resorted to, and the experience 
is one that should not be missed. Worcester"^ recites 
the incidents of such a voyage, which afforded him 
unusual opportunity of learning something of the 
vagaries of wind and water in these seas and of 
observing the remarkable seamanship of the Malay 
navigators. 

''At half-past two we got off, with a fresh breeze 
blowing from the north. When we were about five 
miles out it suddenly veered toward the east, at the 
same time increasing in strength until things began 
to look ugly. The sky darkened and to the south of 
us we could see a mighty waterspout marching 
grandly along. 

''We had a good, staunch boat, with strong bamboo 
outriggers, but the wind was dead abeam and the 
sea rising rapidly. Our men handled their craft 
with wonderful skill. When she began to keel over 
dangerously, instead of reefing sails or changing the 
course, they sent one of their number to windward 
to sit on the outrigger. As the wind increased in 
violence, a second, then a third, and, finally, a 



* The Philippine Islands, Dean C. Worcester, New York, 
1899. 



LUZON. 433 

f ourtli man walked out on the centre crosspiece, hold- 
ing to the stays of the mainmast. Two of the crew 
sat astride the outrigger while the others stood close 
to it, keeping the boat on a fairly even keel. We 
should have done very well had the wind held steady, 
but it began to come in sudden puffs and squalls. 
The men watched it closely, running further out as 
a squall bore down on us and hurrying in when the 
wind slackened ; but with all their remarkable skill 
they made an occasional miscalculation, bringing the 
outrigger down just in time to cut the top off a wave 
and send it flying inboard. The position of the men 
who were balancing the boat soon became precarious. 
One moment they were six feet above the water and 
the next up to their necks in it. We feared they 
might be washed away, but they hung on grimly with 
their teeth chattering. 

^^Our sail was old and rotten, and the strain finally 
proved too much for it. There came a sharp report 
and it burst through the middle. In five minutes it 
was blown to ribbons, and we were drifting at the 
mercy of the waves. For some time all hands bailed 
for dear life, but the water gained on us steadily, and 
it looked as if we were bound to fill and lie disabled 
until the outriggers were carried away, when we 
should inevitably go to the bottom. 

^'Two of the men suddenly stopped bailing and 
began to overhaul the cargo. To our amazement they 
unearthed a ncAV sail which by chance they had 

28 



434 THE PHILIPPINES. 

undertaken to carry over to a friend. Hotv they man- 
aged to rig it I could never see. The boat was pitch- 
ing and tossing like a mad thing, and I thought the 
man who climbed the mast would be thrown over- 
board, if indeed the mast itself did not go with him. 
I was too busy to pay much attention to anything but 
the bailing, however, for the fuller the boat got the 
faster she filled. It was touch-and-go business, and 
for a time it seemed as if we should be awash before 
they could get the sail up; but they won out at the 
finish. We all drew a long breath when at last the 
boat began to draw ahead again." 

FILIPIl^O HOSPITALITY IS INEXHAUSTIBLE. 

Inland, a river boat will sometimes be the most 
expeditious mode of conveyance, but most often the 
traveler finds the native pony, or cart, best adapted to 
his requirements. In the rains many roads are im- 
passable except by carabao, and in order to cover 
them one may be put to riding that ungainly quad- 
ruped, as the natives commonly do. 

The tribunal, or town hall, is designed to accommo- 
date the wayfarer, but every Filipino who has a roof 
over his head and a measure of rice is a prospective 
host. The hospitality of the Tagal is unsurpass- 
able and inexhaustible. The white man will find a 
ready welcome at the house of the capitan, or some 
well-to-do planter. In an out-of-the-way hamlet, 
where the people are all in modest circumstances, his 



HOME LIFE OF THE TAGALS. 435 

quarters may be less pretentious and his fare sim- 
ple, but the one will be clean and comfortable and 
the other the best his peasant entertainer can afford. 
He comes without warning and leaves when he 
pleases. All that his host has, or can procure for 
his comfort or pleasure, are eagerly offered. The 
head of the establishment will cheerfully neglect his 
own affairs to attend to those of his guest, at whose 
service he places all the men, animals and material 
on the estate. 

HOME LIFE OF THE TAGALS. 

The family life of the Tagals, who predominate 
in Luzon, is exemplary. The man treats his wife 
with respect and kindness, and brings his children up 
in a manner that might afford a pattern to many an 
American father. They are obedient and civil to 
their elders, obliging to strangers, without anticipation 
of reward, and willing to do their share of any work 
that may be going forward. The women are indus- 
trious and perform a great deal of the labor in the 
fields and about the house. They prepare the meals, 
hull the rice, and work the looms. It may chance 
that the household has a helper in the form of a 
catipado, that is a young man without means, who, 
aspiring to the hand of one of the daughters of the 
family, is required, in lieu of dower, to serve his 
prospective father-in-law for a period, which may be 
as long as two or three years. Thus, courtship among 



436 THE PHILIPPINES. 

tlie Tagals is not the light and airy matter it is 
with us. On the other hand, the arrangement is not 
viewed hy the youth in the light of a hardship, for 
he is constantly in the company of the young girl, 
and is permitted to assist her in the domestic tasks. 
During the term of probation the swain is very care- 
ful to give satisfaction to the father and to avoid 
incurring the- displeasure of any member of the 
family, for he is liable to be dismissed otherwise, 
and to see another suitor take his place. The prac- 
tice gives easy opportunity to a calculating and un- 
scrupulous parent to trade on his daughter's charms, 
but it appears that such abuse of confidence is not 
frequent. The young couple sometimes force a re- 
luctant father's hand by anticipating the privilege of 
matrimony, but in such case the favored youth never 
seeks to avoid a permanent alliance with his 
inamorata. 

In the tropics puberty is reached at a period 
which we consider childhood, and natives of the 
Philippines marry early, the bride often being no 
more than twelve years old. The marriage ceremony 
is the occasion of great display and outlay, the ex- 
pense frequently leaving the interested parties in 
debt for a year or two. The priest sets the day and 
exacts a generous fee, according to his idea of the 
means of the contracting families. 

As evening approaches a procession of relatives 
and friends leaves the house of the bride's father for 



A FILIPINO WEDDING. 437 

the church, where the usual service is performed. On 
leaving the building a plate of coins is presented to 
the groom, who takes a handful and gives them to 
his wife, thus signifying his bestowal upon her of 
his worldly wealth, whatever it may be. This endow- 
ment is not, however, reciprocal, for a wife's goods 
remain her individual possession, and her husband 
cannot in any case inherit them. They accrue to the 
children upon the mother's death or, failing issue, 
revert to her parents. 

The ceremony at the church is followed by a feast 
at the residence of the groom's father. This feast, 
called the catapusan, or assembly of friends, is always 
a sumptuous affair. The relatives of both the yovmg 
people are present, and all the notables of the village 
are invited. Of course this includes the ciira, who 
is the guest of honor, no matter who else may be 
there. 

Eoast pig is an invariable feature of these ban- 
quets, but the table is loaded with everything obtain- 
able in the form of viands, including many delicacies 
which the good folks can only afford to indulge in 
upon such extraordinary occasions. The beverages 
are wines and chocolate, sometimes reinforced with 
imported beer and European spirits. It goes with- 
out saying that cigars and cigarettes are supplied in 
abundance, and betel-nut, or huyo, is also provided. 
After the feast the padre, who is usually a man of 
tact, goes home or takes a nap in some secluded 



438 THE PHILIPPINES. 

corner, whilst tlie young people dance and give free 
vent to their high spirits. 

The newly-married couple live with the parents 
of one or the other for some time, and perhaps 
permanently. 

If the contracting families are in easy circum- 
stances the preliminaries to a marriage include a 
great deal of dickering hetween the respective fathers 
on the subject of dowry before the matter can be 
satisfactorily arranged. 

THE RELIGIOUS BOND NOT VERY STRONG. 

These ''children of the country^' are as happy and 
contented as any people in the world. They take 
life lightly and accept its vicissitudes with admirable 
philosophy. They are a nation of Mark Tapleys. 
^N'othing can disturb their equanimity seriously or 
for long. Even their religion, which appeals to their 
natural love of show and superstition, has no deep 
hold upon them. As Reclus says, ''the Roman Cath- 
olic religion is for them little more than a succes- 
sion of festive amusements. Troubling themselves 
little about dogma, they display extraordinary zeal 
in the celebration of the pompous rites of the Roman 
liturgy, and a great part of their existence is thus 
passed in the observance of practices not greatly dif- 
fering from those of their primitive cult. 

"A domestic altar, with the images of the Madonna 
and saints, successors of the ancient anitos, occupies 



THE RELIGIOUS BOND NOT VERY SITIONG. 439 

the place of honor in every household, and the hum- 
blest hamlet has its special feast, during which these 
sacred images, draped in embroidered silks and 
crowTied with chaplets of flowers, are borne at the 
head of brilliant processions. The churches, built in 
the Spanish ^Jesuit' style, are similarly decorated 
with rich hangings, bannerols, and floral festoons, 
while every village has its band of musicians, who 
accompany the religious ceremonies with a flourish of 
trombones and cymbals. Actors also are frequently 
engaged to perform the 'mysteries' and to play come- 
dies, in w^hich the sacred and profane are strangely 
intermingled, the feast days kept in honor of the 
saints usually winding up with a grand display of 
fireworks.'' 

INFLTJEH^CE OF THE CTJKA, 

Tlie cura, especially if a Spaniard, is the most 
influential person in the district, and to him the 
"Capitan" applies for advice on all serious occasions. 
On him, more than iipon troops, or any other medium, 
the Government depended for the submission of the 
converted natives. But the increasing relations w^ith 
the outer world, the spread of education, the diffusion 
of secular literature, the dissemination of the Spanish 
language, all tended to bring about a new order of 
things, under which the Filipinos, with increased ten- 
dency to rise to European standards, were bound to 
gain in independence and moral freedom. 



440 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The wants of the Filipino are few and easily 
supplied. That he is satisfied to toil only to the 
extent sufficient to meet the requirements of his 
simple life is to us, victims of a turgescent material 
civilization, a crime. At least the Filipino has the 
ethic philosophy of the Stoics on his side. We are 
prone to prate about the virtue of labor, but we do 
not toil for the pleasure we find in it. Motive is the 
impelling power, and it is in the result, or its antici- 
pation, that the pleasure lies. Love of labor is not a 
natural characteristic of the human, or any other 
species of animal, else the author of Genesis was 
sadly astray in his picture of the ideal condition of 
man and his conclusion that the greatest curse that 
could be inflicted upon him was the condemnation to 
gain his bread by the sweat of his brow. 

THE SIMPLE I.IFE IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

The Filipino is much nearer to !N^ature in his 
mental and physical condition than ourselves, and 
it is absurd to judge him by our standards. Give him 
an adequate incentive and he will probably prove 
that he can work with the best of us. As a matter of 
fact he is very far from being the shiftless loiterer 
that has been depicted to us by uncultivated observ- 
ers. The discerning visitor to the Philippines, who 
has heard so much of the slothful helplessness of 
the natives, will be surprised by the evidences of 
voluntary industry upon every hand. He will see 



THE INEVITABLE CARABAO. 441 

men, women, and children working hard and in- 
telligently, and with the cheeriness which is never 
present in the sluggard. In order to follow the course 
of a day's labor he will have to rise with the sun, 
and, although he retires from the mid-day heat, he 
must follow the villagers into their fields again with 
the comparative cool of the evening. 

THE INEVITABLE CARABAO. 

The carahao is an ever-prominent object in these 
scenes. He is indispensable to the peasant farmer, 
and even with the introduction of modern methods 
would still remain one of the most important factors 
in the agricultural economy of the country. He 
draws the plough, and drags the cart, and renders 
himself useful in many other ways. 

The carahao, or water-buffalo, is an amphibious 
animal. In his wild state he spends at least half 
his time in the water, and in domesticity the inclina- 
tion to do so remains, although the opportunity is 
curtailed. However, a considerable amount of in- 
dulgence in this direction is necessary to his health. 
A carahao will stand motionless in the water for 
hours, if undisturbed, with just the tip of his nose 
protruding. This placid enjoyment is varied by nuz- 
zling in the soft bottom for certain tender roots and 
grass that appeal to his appetite. In this sub- 
aqueous search he can keep his head below the sur- 
face for two or three minutes. A mud-bath he must 



442 THE PHILIPPINES. 

have once a day, and lie will take one as often as 
chance favors. He will lie down in the sticky sub- 
stance and roll about ponderously until his body is 
entirely covered with it. There is a distinct method 
in this apparent madness, for [N^ature furnishes the 
adult carahao with little more hair than she gives to 
the new-born human baby, and the quadruped would 
be the easiest of prey to stinging insects but for 
the coat of clay with which he makes up for his 
natural deficiency. 

The carahao is a nondescript beast. He has a head 
nearly as slim as that of an antelope, with horns that 
lie back along his neck. His trunk is almost as 
bulky as that of a hippopotamus and is supported 
by disproportionately-slender legs. His appearance 
is absurdly stupid, as he solemnly wags his head from 
side to side and looks upon the world with the in- 
different and inane expression of a Chinese idol. The 
carahao is the family pet, and so docile are these 
creatures in a domestic state that they learn the 
voices of their masters and other members of the 
household and come to their call or act in answer 
to their command. The children ride upon their 
broad backs, often two or three at a time, and guide 
them with the string attached to the nose. 

The never-absent companion of the carahao in the 
field is a small black bird of the martin species, which 
perches upon the beast's head and picks from its ears 
vermin that gather there. The writer has noticed 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEASANT. 443 

this bird-and-beast combination everywhere in the 
East that the water-buffalo is found. Following the 
animal in his progress through the tilth is usually a 
procession of four or five white herons which find an 
easily-provided meal in the insects that are turned 
up wdth the soil. 

It may readily be understood what a terrible af- 
fliction was the rinderpest that overtook these useful 
animals all over the country and in 1902 killed forty 
per cent, of them. In many cases the peasant was 
deprived at once of his chief possession and of a 
creature for which he entertained a warm affection. 

SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FILIPINO 

PEASANT. 

The Filipino is naturally humane. He almost in- 
variably treats lower animals well. The hack-drivers 
of Manila would seem to form an exception to this 
rule, but it is highly probable that their occasional 
harshness toward their horses is mainly due to ignor- 
ance of their nature and the consequent lack of 
understanding between the two. The native knows 
the carahao as the priest knows the written page, but 
a similar intimacy between the Filipino and the horso 
has never been established, because there has been 
no opportunity for it. 

. There is little real vice in the composition of the 
uncontaminated native, and his faults are of an easily 
condonable nature. 



444 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The Filipino displays in a marked degree that 
cardinal virtue, cleanliness, the lack of which is so 
often the chief barrier between the Oriental and the 
white man. Every barrio has facilities for bathing, 
and on feast days, when labor is forbidden by the 
Church, the entire community — men, women and 
children — disport themselves in the water. There 
is no separation of the sexes, but the adults are be- 
comingly clad. 

'No characteristic of the Tagal is more prominently 
evinced than the love of music, which is universal. 
Every parish has its brass band, and sometimes, in 
addition, an orchestra of stringed instruments. They 
furnish the music for church services and give per- 
formances wdiich are an endless source of entertain- 
ment to the villagers. It is safe to say that a people 
who have this taste so strikingly developed must pos- 
sess better than average dispositions. In the most 
out-of-the-way and unlikely places are heard the 
strains of a flute, a violin, or a piano, and the labors 
of the field-workers are often lightened by musical 
accompaniment. It is a remarkable thing that 
amongst so many creditable performers so few attain 
to a high degree of ability, but perhaps that is entirely 
due to the limited opportunities for education, and 
with increased facilities for cultivating their musical 
talent the Filipinos may give the world some virtuosi 
of renown and produce their Paderewskis and their 
Paganinis. 



THEY HAVE THEIR SUPERSTITIONS. 445 

The Tagal has the Lepcha's love of ]N'atiire in all 
her manifestations, and, like the hillman of the 
Himalayas, he has a vast knowledge of the habits 
and conditions of birds, beasts, and reptiles. 

THEY HAVE THEIK SUPERSTITIONS LIKE ALL PEOPLE. 

The Tagalogs entertain a number of strange super- 
stitions, from which the better educated of their num- 
ber are by no means free. Belief in the amulet 
called antin-antin is widespread, but the more enlight- 
ened find a satisfactory substitute in the scapulary. 
A native bent on gambling, or upon his way to the 
cock-pit with his bird, will turn back should he 
happen to encounter a funeral party. The ''nono" 
are the spirits of old persons. AMien a tree is to be 
felled, or a piece of virgin ground broken, and on 
many other occasions, permission is asked of the 
nono. Should this precaution be neglected misfor- 
tune will surely ensue. The 'Higbolan^^ is a ghost 
which assumes a variety of forms, and sometimes con- 
fers a similar gift upon certain favored individuals, 
in much the same way as the devil was wont to grant 
extraordinary powers to a few of our adventuresome 
forefathers. The ''asiian' is particularly dreaded by 
women, for its practice is to haunt the dwellings 
of the pregnant with sinister intent. The ''jmtianac'* 
is. the restless soul of a child that died unbaptized. 
It frequents the woods and chirps like a bird. The 
'^manqcuculari* is a person possessing the power of 



446 THE THILIPPINES. 

causing sickness, or death, to one with whom he or 
she is displeased. An individual enjoying the repu- 
tation of being a mangcuculan is not pursued with 
social attentions, but is treated with the utmost defer- 
ence by everyone. The "iqm' is a man who has the 
power of flying through the air at night, leaving the 
lower half of his body at home. He is believed to 
live upon a diet of human livers. In his nocturnal 
journeys in search of food he alights upon the roofs 
of houses and, Avith an endless thread-like tongue, 
penetrates the bowels of his victim and causes his 
death. 

There are many superstitions connected with the 
erection of a house. !N"o holes may be dug for posts 
unless they be inserted before vespers of the same 
day, for the hole is typical of the grave, and if it 
were to be left unfilled there would be serious danger 
of some member of the family dying before morning. 
However, the danger may be averted by inserting 
some temporary substitute for the post in the hole. 
The first post set has at its base a silver coin, which 
will insure the owner of the house always having 
money, and so on throughout the details of the work. 

Of course there are many curious beliefs connected 
with the different agricultural processes. The harvest 
of rice must not be gathered unless the moon is in its 
first or last stage, and many a native w^ill conform 
to this prohibition at the risk of losing his crop. In 
order to secure immunity from the ravages of birds 



THEY HAVE THEIR SUPERSTITIONS. 447 

and insects, the farmer goes into the field at midnight, 
preceding the day of planting, and carefully buries 
a handful of seed at the foot of a cross which is placed 
in the centre of the land. After the rice has been 
reaped the owner of the land takes the smallest basket 
he possesses and deposits in it a small sheaf of the 
grain. This act tends to the success of the final pro- 
cesses, but to be efficacious it must be performed when 
the tide is at its highest. 

Patriotism in the broadest sense cannot be expected 
of a man who is utterly ignorant of the w^orld beyond 
a radius of a few miles from his native village, and 
who has, perhaps, but the vaguest idea of what the 
''Philippines" signifies, but the Tagal is strongly at- 
tached to the soil and the barrio in which he was bom. 
I^owhere are community bonds happier or closer. 
The inhabitants of a village ha^e the same churcli 
and the same fatherly guide and adviser; they share 
their pleasures and their labors ; the misfortunes of 
one are those of the others ; a discordant element 
rarely disturbs the peaceful round of their lives. 
They are seen at their best on the occasion of a fiesta, 
and no more true and vivid picture of village life 
in the Philippines can be found than the following 
quotation from the pen of Ramon Lala, himself a 
native :* 



* The Philippine Islands, Ramon Reyes Lala, New York, 
1899. 



448 THE PHILIPPINES. 

iN^othing in tlie life of tlie people of the Philippines 
is more interesting to the foreigner than the village 
feasts ; nothing is more indicative of the character of 
the people, Avho are exceedingly fond of ornament and 
display. Every village has its own feasts, to which 
all the natives in the surrounding district contribute 
• — in which all alike take part. 

A TYPICAL VILLAGE FIESTA. 

These feasts are always of a religious character, 
and are encouraged by the clergy, who find them not 
only lucrative but also conducive to religious feeling. 

Come with me and visit the busy morning scene of a 
fiesta in a populous village near the capital. As we 
enter the broad roadway, winding with serpentine 
folds, among the gleaming bungalows we see every- 
where signs of unusual activity ; groups of smilin*:^ 
natives, dressed in their Sunday best, hurry by chat- 
tering gaily. Here comes a long line of carromatas 
drawn by wiry ponies, driven by well-to-do planters ; 
with the lofty consciousness of worldly prosperity 
they sit erect in imperturbable dignity. 

We join a passing group and follow them past the 
low, airy houses, all decorated now with gorgeous 
bunting and gay festoons. Flags and streamers flut- 
ter on every housetop ; the whole village presents a 
scene of picturesque animation; for the tropical lux- 
uriance of the trees and the myriad flowers of gorge- 
ous hue form a brilliant background. 



A TYPICAL VILLAGE FIESTA. 449 

We arrive at the village green and here stands a 
motley assemblage constantly reinforced by the 
throngs that come in by every path and roadway. An 
expression of eager anticipation is on the faces of all 
as they gaze in the direction of the little church that 
fronts the crowded court. The church is a low, mas- 
sive, white building, with large pillars in front that 
give it a semi-classic appearance; it forms a curious, 
but not uninteresting, contrast to the many-gabled 
bungalows. The bells in the campanile begin to toll 
slowly and from the midst of the crowd instantly 
comes a burst of glorious music. The village band 
stationed there renders effectively an operatic air as 
the natives slowly enter the church. After all are 
seated the priest preaches a short sermon, full of pith 
and pertinent suggestion about the saint whom the 
day commemorates. The audience is then dismissed 
with a benediction ; and to the lively music of some 
composer it files leisurely out The natives see noth- 
ing incongruous in the introduction of operatic music 
into divine worship. They are moved in devotion no 
less by the stirring strains of one of Sousa's marches, 
or a languorous waltz of Strauss, than by the solemn 
Te Deum of the CathoKc ritual. To them all music 
is divine. 

We stop a few minutes to watch the cura — the 
parish priest — as he dispenses blessings to his devout 
parishioners, who now crowd round him with every 
appearance of reverential affection. Our friend, the 

29 



450 THE PHILIPPINES. 

cura, is a veritable father to his people. As he lis- 
tens to the ingenuous confidences of his flock his face 
beams with that rare benevolence bom of goodness ; 
there is a whisper of domestic sorrow that he needs 
must hear; a story of happiness, or a tale of wrong. 
For each and all he has a word of kindly affection, 
and as he sees us waiting near the entrance he ap- 
proaches with outstretched hand and invites us to the 
grand procession in the evening. 

The people have dispersed and have returned to 
their homes. Already the sun is high in the sky, 
pouring a deluge of heat upon the landscape. From 
the horizon mountain after mountain springs airily 
into the heavens, their blue peaks suggesting a place 
of perpetual coolness, upon which the eye loves to 
linger amid the oppressive blaze of the tropic sun. 

A PLAI!q^TER's HOME. 

Surrounding the village are forests of majestic 
trees of indescribable grandeur and of unparalleled 
magnificence. Among these the white houses of the 
planters nestle peacefully. 

Each house has its own tiny garden, fenced in with 
reeds, and forms a miniature paradise, where are 
flowers of splendid hue, creepers with purple blos- 
soms, red-coral blooms, and trees of palm, mango, 
orange, lanzon, santol, and giant bananas whose rich 
fruits in great clusters tempt the eye of the beholder. 
Here the native is a petty king ; for his o^vn little do- 



A PLANTER'S HOME. 451 

main for nine months in the year yields sufficient for 
his wants. N^ature indeed gives him a golden harvest 
for only the reaping. 

We have been invited to spend the day with a 
well-to-do planter who, at the conclusion of the service, 
has sought us out. He lives on the outskirts of the 
village, and we are soon with him in his carromata 
speeding over the highway. 

We approach his home — a typical native dwelling ; 
the body of the house is raised about six feet from 
the ground, and is mounted on thick pieces of stone. 
This allows the air to circulate freely beneath and 
prevents the entrance of snakes and insects, and is in 
every way conducive to health and comfort. We 
mount the wide stairway that connects the house with 
the ground and enter upon a broad open piazza fac- 
ing the street, called a cahida. The sides of this are 
formed of sliding windows composed of small square 
panes of mother-of-pearl, opaque to the heat, but 
admitting the rays of light. Here we are intro- 
duced to the various members of the family, who re- 
ceive us kindly and offer sugared dainties and a cigar- 
ette. Beyond is a large room with walls of window 
and with sliding doors. Here are some chairs and a 
table covered with a handsome embroidered cloth. 
Upon the walls, which are covered with cloth instead 
of plaster, are various bric-a-brac artistically arranged 
upon scrolls, while several engravings of religious sub- 
jects and one or two family portraits hang between. 



452 THE PHILIPPINES. 

From the centre of the ceiling hangs a crystal 
chandelier with globes of colored glass; a small 
oratory, supporting the brazen image of some saint, 
stands in the comer. The broad floor-planks, daily 
scrubbed and polished with plantain leaves, are as 
smooth and clean as a mirror. 

Opening from this main room are several smaller 
rooms, used as bedrooms. A narrow passageway leads 
to the bathroom and to the kitchen — in a separate 
building. The design of the whole domicile seems 
to aim at cleanliness and coolness — both essentials 
of comfort in this hot, moist climate. 

The roof is thatched with 7iipa palm and the out- 
side walls of bamboo — painted white and striped with 
green and blue — are covered with grotesque carvings. 
This, with the broad eaves and the wide balconies, 
gives the house a most picturesque appearance. 

We note with gratification the many signs of family 
affection around us. The father, kind and consider- 
ate ; the mother, sweet and sympathetic ; the children, 
quiet, obedient, and well-behaved — a picture of do- 
mestic happiness that is representative rather than 
exceptional. After tiiiin, each retires to his own 
room to enjoy the siesta; and thus we sleep soundly 
through the heavy afternoon hours. 

The siesta over, we venture into the village. 
Through the streets are hurrying scores of men, nearly 
every one with a cock under his arm ; they are going 
to the cock-pit. We follow and soon we come to our 
destination. 



SOURCE OF ENTERTAINMENT. 453 

Imagine a large bamboo building with a thatched 
roof wherein hundreds of natives have gathered for 
what is to them the supreme enjoyment of life. 
Around the door are one or two guards in Spanish 
uniform ; but everything appears so decorous and or- 
derly that is is indeed difficult to realize that we are 
in a gigantic gambling den. I^early every native has 
with him his fighting-cock, which he loves as devot- 
edly as one of his own children and upon which he 
has spent much care and attention. 

The ''farmer/' often a Chinaman, who has secured 
a license from the Government to run a cock-pit, 
stands in the middle of the ring, around him a group 
of natives, excited and eager. 

Two fighting-cocks, each armed with a spur three 
or four inches long, are in the hands of their respective 
owners. Every eye is riveted upon the respective con- 
testants. The farmer, or proprietor, announces that 
the contest is about to begin, and from every hand 
dollars rain into the ring, each person staking a cer- 
tain amount upon his favorite. 

This done, all is breathless expectation, and at 
the word ''Casada!'* meaning matched, and at 
*' Largo P^ — Let go! — the fowls are let loose. The 
fight waxes hot and furious ; the two cocks are as 
pugnacious as bull-pups. But it is soon over ; for at a 
well-directed thrust from the steel spur one of the 
contestants lies dead. 

The crier now announces the name of the victor. 



454 THE PHILIPPINES. 

and all the winners come down into the middle of the 
ring and pick up their own stakes as well as the 
amount won by the wager. 

Strangers often remark how unusual it is that 
amidst so much confusion and where is apparently 
boundless opportunity for cheating there should be so 
much honesty and good faith. However, every man 
is to be trusted. I have never known but one excep- 
tion — he was instantly hacked to pieces with knives. 

It is night. Against the sombre gloom of the 
heavens gleam millions of stars ; they, too, are a part 
of the grand illumination that is to be the climax of 
the whole fiesta. Again the village green in front 
of the church. It is alive with the happy villagers 
decked in all their finery — the men and boys in 
airy colored shirts and white trousers, the women and 
girls in splendid skirts and brilliant chemisettes. 

THE PRINCIPAL FEATURE OF THE FEAST. 

All are standing bareheaded ; the band is discours- 
ing sweet music, and the people stand entranced. 
ISTot a sound is heard till the tune is ended; then on 
every hand arises a decorous murmur of delight. 
Here comes the cura. He at once proceeds to ar- 
range the procession which is the event of the feast 
and to which the villagers have been looking forward 
with joyous anticipation for many months. Mysteri- 
ous groups are issuing from the church; these are 
assigned to their respective positions by the father, 



Antique Defenses. 

A corner of the ramparts of Old Manila with the 
Lnneta in the background. It was with these cumber- 
some old muzzle-loaders that Augusti proposed to knock 
Dewey^s ships to pieces. 

From Stereotype Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New 



PRINCIPAL FEATURE OF THE FEAST. 455 

who in this, as in all else, is the master of cere- 
monies. Let us, however, leave the crowd and move 
a little way np the street, where before long the pro- 
cession is to pass. Over the roadway, from airy 
arches gaily-decorated with bunting are suspended 
Chinese lanterns. On the gateways to the houses, 
on all the fences that line the street, hang little fat 
pots whose pale flicker, multiplied a thousand-fold, 
produces a romantic effect to which the lights on the 
arches and the many-colored illuminated lamps in the 
windows add a subdued splendor. 

We have not long to wait, for the procession hag 
been speedily arranged and is already making its 
way up the street, the band at the head playing an 
operatic air. 

Behind come the happy participants, two by two ; 
men and women alternating. All carry torches whose 
glow throws over their grave faces a gleam of soft 
light that harmonizes well with the nature of the 
occasion. 

And now comes the spangled image of some old 
saint borne aloft on a litter; while a murmur of ap- 
plause bursts from the admiring onlookers. From 
every house rockets are shot into the heavens, shower- 
ing on the dusky night constellations of colored stars. 

Thus saint after saint, martyr after martyr, is 
majestically borne along till, near the end of the pro- 
cession, appears the image of the Virgin herself, 
^^decked with jewels bright and with glory crowned." 



456 THE PHILIPPINES. 

'Now the murmur rises to a shout of devout acclaim ; 
the Queen of the festive night, Our Lady, passes on. 

Thus through every street Avinds the brilliant pro- 
cession under the lighted arches returning finally to 
the village court whence it started. Here the priest 
pronounces a benediction and with a clash of trium- 
phant music the participants are dimissed. 

Again we accompany our host back to his hospitable 
mansion, where a generous meal has been prepared 
for us. We partake heartily of the good things, 
roast pig, chicken, many kinds of native fruits, and 
rice. At the close cigarettes are passed round — 
both men and women smoking — and we soon enter 
into conversation while the new arrivals are being 
served. 

KATIVE PANTOMIME DANCES. 

It is our host's grand reception night. A hun- 
dred guests have partaken of his bounty and the 
verandah and the sitting-room are crowded with 
friends and neighbors — invited and uninvited ; all 
are equally welcome. Cigars and cigarettes are 
passed around, and now the fun begins. A girl — 
a wonderfully sweet and pretty creature, with glow- 
ing black eyes and long, loose black hair — advances 
to the centre of the room and croons a low, plaintive 
air, reminiscent of unrequited love. She accom- 
panies her music with a wierd dance, impressive 
through its very simplicity. Gradually her tones 



NATIVE PANTOMIME DANCES. 457 

grow louder, and her movements quicker, signifying 
all the varying degrees of advance and refusal. Her 
supple body glides in a thousand graceful curves, 
each eloquent of beauty. Her pale, olive face be- 
comes mantled with a rich crimsontide as she lashes 
herself into a fury of passion. She feigns anger, and 
stamping her pretty feet, now in petulant disdain, 
now in a paroxysm of wrath, stands the incarnation 
of beautiful rage. It is a picture full of tragic 
power, of deep significance. She is approaching the 
climax of her passion. Her voice is sharp and shrill 
as it trembles with scorn and defiance. Forward and 
backward her body sways with a rhythmic swing that 
compels the attention of every beholder. Many in 
fact accompany her every motion with the sympa- 
thetic movement of unconscious imitation ; their faces 
mirror the feelings of the dancer. 

And now a note of triumph rings out, and the 
singer's face glows with an expression of ecstacy; 
while bounding forward, her splendid hair trailing in 
waves of ebony, she seems transformed — the apothe- 
osis of joy. Then, slowly decreasing in volume, her 
voice sinks to a low whisper of serene content, and 
blushing modestly at the applause, she retires to give 
place to others. 

Two young men and a girl now come forward and 
a scene of desperate rivalry on the part of the men 
and of tantalizing coquetry on the part of the maiden 
is enacted. This is by means of a series of intricate 



458 THE PHILIPPINES. 

dance movements, no less striking than original. A 
pretty tableau truly, and one not lacking in sentiment 
and in spontaneous expression. A foreigner would 
believe that these young natives were in terrible 
earnest and that they were rehearsing a passion of 
the heart. Such, indeed, is often the case, and many a 
girl has, through the license of this dance, shown 
her preference. Many a youth, too, has seen his hopes 
blasted and his rival exalted by a dainty pirouette. 

THE MORO-MOKO PLAY. 

Dance after dance follows, and it is getting late. 
But another entertainment is in store for us, and so 
once more we venture forth into the night en route to 
the village green. 

Here has been erected a large booth, around which 
hundreds of natives are standing, in attitudes of pro- 
found attention. A moro-moro play is going on. 
This is a sort of Philippine miracle-play, in which 
kings, and queens, and soldiers, and various per- 
sonages with Biblical names, contend together. There 
is rivalry, ruin, and despair; there is death, murder, 
and awful retribution. It is a tumultuous tragedy, 
in which, too, are some subtle and refined elements 
and a kind of gross humor, represented by the stage 
fool and the lads that take the female parts. There 
is, however, no coarseness — not a suggestion of it. 
Love and religious persuasion and devotion mark the 
greatest number of moro-moro performances, and 



THE MORO-MORO PLAY. 459 

while some of the plays are fairly good — not judg- 
ing from too lofty a standpoint — jet, on the other 
hand, it is indeed amusing to note how little in 
this line, how thin a texture, pleases the people; 
bombast and fury, honeyed accents and unnecessary 
vicarious suffering, false and flagrant violations of 
dramatic art — all alike are viewed with breathless 
interest and applauded or stoically witnessed as the 
occasion demands. The entire play is given in the 
Tagal language. 

The native spectators, indeed, enter into the action 
of the play w^th, as it were, a grim earnest, as if all 
their mental faculties were judging complex emo- 
tions and nice situations. Nothing, indeed, in the 
native character is more remarkable than its unvary- 
ing decorum. Here the happy crowd has been stand- 
ing for three hours agape with delight, drinking in 
the rude splendors of tinsel potentates. Here, too, 
they would be willing to stand for several hours 
longer, but it is nearly midnight and a sudden illumi- 
nation on the other side of the square announces that 
the time for departure is nearly at hand. 

It is seen that the villagers have constructed a 
miniature castle now ablaze with fireworks. Vari- 
ous designs are traced by the spreading glow, and 
scores of rockets shoot into the sky, dropping a shower 
of brilliant stars. Ever and anon, at some unusual 
display, a murmur of applause rises from the admir- 
ing throng. Entranced, they stay until the last 



460 THE PHILIPPINES. 

rocket has been drowned in the vast ocean of night. 
Then all leave as silently as they came, and the vil- 
lage square is soon deserted, while the lamps and 
lanterns are allowed to burn till their glow is quenched 
in the brightness of the morrow's sun. 



THE VISAYAS. 



A MEi>'J'iZA. 

The olfspring of Spanish fathers and native mothers 
are the most intellectual and well-to-do class among 
the population. Their women are not behind their 
Cuban sisters in the qualities oT oraee. refinement and 
beauty. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



XII. 

THE VISAYAS. 

Characteristics of the Visayans — Iloilo, the Capital of Panay 
— Island of Guimaras — Iloilo Province and Its Indus- 
tries — The Relapse of Mindoro into Wilderness — The 
Sugar Fields of Negros — The Natural Beauties of Samar 
— Catbalogan — The Remontados, a Reversion to a Wild 
Type — Masbate, a Vast Grazing Ground — Historic Cebu — 
The Holy Child of Cebu — Cebu as a Shipping Cen- 
tre — Old Landmarks and Historic Sites — The Hardy 
Islanders of Bohol — The Island of Siquijor — The Fate 
of Delinquent Taxpayers Under Spain — Leyte. 

The Visayan Islands are a very important com- 
mercial division of the Philippines. Practically all 
the sugar exported from the Archipelago and a large 
proportion of the hemp is produced in this group. 
There are many points of dissimilarity between the 
Visayans and the Tagals, and they do not consider 
themselves the same people, nor have they any love 
for each other. The Yisayan is less intelligent than 
the Tagal and has fewer attractive qualities, but 
the charge of excessive indolence that is frequently 
brought against him appears to have less foundation 
than the equally serious one that he is a little too 
prone to indulge to excess in strong drink. 

CIIARACTEKISTICS OF THE VISAYANS. 

'Foreman says: ^'The Visaya native^s cold hospi- 
tality is much tempered with avarice or the prospects 

(463) 



464 THE PHILIPPINES. 

of personal gain — quite a contrast to the Tagalog. 
On the first visit he might admit yon to his house out 
of mere curiosity to know all about you — whence you 
came, why you travel, how much you possess, and 
where you are going. The basis of his estimation 
of a visitor is his worldly means, or if the visitor be 
engaged in trade his power to facilitate his host's 
schemes would bring him a certain measure of civil- 
ity and complaisance. He is fond of and seeks the 
patronage of Europeans of position. In manners the 
Yisayo is imcouth and brusque and more conceited, 
arrogant, self-reliant, ostentatious, and unpolished, 
than his northern neighbor. If remonstrated with 
for any fault he is quite disposed to an impertinent 
retort or sullen defiance. 

"The women, too, are less compliant in the South 
than in the ^orth, and evince an almost incredible 
avarice. They are excessively fond of ornament, and. 
at feasts they appear adorned with an amount of 
gaudy French jewelry which, compared with their 
means, has cost them a lot of money to purchase from 
the swarm of Jew peddlers who invade the villages. 

"If an European calls on a well-to-do Yisayo, the 
women of the family saunter off in one direction and 
another to hide themselves in other rooms, unless the 
visitor be well known to the family. If met by 
chance, perhaps they will return a salutation, perhaps 
not. They seldom indulge in a smile before stran- 
gers; have no conversation; no tuition beyond music 



THE VISAYAS. 465 

and the lives of the Saints ; and altogether impress 
the traveler with their insipidity of character, which 
chimes badly with the air of disdain which they 
exhibit. 

^^I stayed for some months in an important Visaya 
town, in the house of a European who was married 
to a native woman, and was much edified by observ- 
ing the visitors from the locality. The Senora, who 
was somewhat pretentious in her social aspirations 
amongst her own class, occasionally came to the tible 
to join us at our meals, but more often preferred to 
eat on the floor in her own bedroom, where she could 
follow her native custom, at her ease, of eating with 
her fingers." 

In the main, however, the Yisayans are much like 
other Filipinos. There is no great difference in 
their customs, manner of living, superstitions and 
mental habits. 

The interior districts of many of the Visayas are 
inhabited by monteses, mountain tribes living in vary- 
ing conditions of barbarism. As a general thing they 
are peaceable and harmless, but they retain a few 
ancient customs that are apt to prove a trifle embar- 
rassing to a stranger. It is their belief that the spirit 
of a person who has died amongst them will not be 
happy if allowed to depart in solitude to the un- 
known. Consequently, and in order to avoid the ill- 
Avill of the deceased, they set out immediately after 
he has breathed his last to find a companion for him. 
so 



466 THE PHILIPPINES. 

This practice is, as may easily be imagined, a great 
check on sociability, and these people, instead of 
forming communities, live in isolated families, each 
on the qui vive to prevent another snatching from it 
an unwilling traveling companion for some deceased 
member. 

ILOILO^ THE CAPITAL OF PAX AY. 

Iloilo, on the Island of Panay, is the second city 
in importance of the Philippines, and is rapidly grow- 
ing as a trade centre and a shipping point. Despite 
its great commerce, the city was miserably neglected 
under the Spanish rule. The streets, subjected to 
much heavy traffic, became worse than country roads 
and were allowed to remain in that condition. The 
sanitary arrangements were abominable and the light- 
ing inadequate. The port transacted its enormous 
business under almost incredible difficulties. Ocean 
vessels could not enter the river and so were obliged 
to transfer their freights by means of lighters. Coast- 
ing steamers, drawing not more than thirteen feet 
of water, could navigate the muddy creek, but when 
they reached the city they found not even the most 
ordinary accommodations for loading and discharg- 
ing cargo. There were no whan^es, no cranes, not 
even any regular moorings. Vessels tied up where 
they pleased and got their stuff on or off-board as 
best they could. Iloilo is entering upon an era of 
reform as regards this and other matters. 



ISLAND OF GUIMARAS. 467 

The port has no light, although the erection of a 
lighthouse was commenced twenty years ago and the 
money for its completion has been collected by the 
officials three or four times over. Ever since the first 
stone of the structure was laid the authorities have 
mulcted every ship that entered the harbor for light- 
house dues. 

ISLAND OF GUIMAKAS. 

Guimaras, an island about twelve miles square and 
distant but one mile from Iloilo, is a very healthy and 
picturesque place, enjoying a situation involving com- 
mercial possibilities that will be exploited some day. 
A few of the European merchants of Iloilo have resi- 
dences upon the island. 

The fishing industry of Guimaras is quite im- 
portant, Iloilo affording a ready and convenient mar- 
ket for the take. Very little of the soil of the island 
is fertile, and on that hemp, rice, corn, and tobacco 
are raised. The cocoanut, however, which will flour- 
ish where nothing else may grow, is plentiful, and 
therein lies the future wealth of this little spot of 
land. The natives do not make a commercial use of 
the nut, but extract tuba from the tree which, in the 
absence of capital, is perhaps the most profitable pur- 
pose to which they could put it. Worcester thus de- 
scribes the process of collecting the fluid: ^'Few nuts 
were allowed to ripen on the trees near our house. 
Many large groves produce no fruit at all. The 



468 THE PHILIPPINES. 

branches of the blossom-stalk are tied together into a 
compact bimdle, their ends are cut off and thrust into 
a hollow joint of bamboo, called a homhon. The sap 
which flows abundantly from the wounds thus made 
is known as tuha and is gathered morning and night. 
^Notches are cut in the bark of the trees as they grow 
taller and the /w&a-gatherer, who is not encumbered 
with much clothing, puts his toes in them and climbs 
the stem of a lofty palm as if it were a ladder. All 
the palms in a grove are usually planted at one time 
and remain of fairly uniform height. In many in- 
stances bamboo bridges are built from tree to tree, 
so that it is not necessary to climb each one. 

"The fi^&a-gatherer carries on his back a large joint 
of bamboo in which to put the fresh sap, a swab to 
clean the homhon, in which the tuha is caught as it 
flows, and a package of bitter red bark reduced to 
powder. This powder is thought to improve the 
flavor of the drink, often recommended for those who 
are recovering from severe illness on account of its 
flesh-producing properties. The fermented product 
is a mild intoxicant.'' 

Guimaras would seem to be an ideal spot for the 
commercial cultivation of the cocoanut and the pro- 
duction of copra or oil. It has a pleasant climate, is 
in close proximity to a labor market and a port, and 
almost the entire coast of the island is paralleled by a 
fine highway, connecting a number of considerable 
towns. 



ILOILO PROVINCE AND ITS INDUSTRIES. 469 

To return to Iloilo ; it is far from being an attrac- 
tive place. As has been said, the streets are in the 
worst possible condition, especially after rain, but the 
visitor, unless he is fortunate enough to enjoy the 
use of a private vehicle, must walk, for there are no 
hacks. The greatest number of vehicles are bullock- 
carts engaged in carrying sugar between the ware- 
houses and the river front. The public buildings 
were once handsome, and the public square sightly, 
but they have been neglected, and no interest seems 
to be displayed in anything that is unconnected with 
sugar. There are a few tolerably good shops, but 
the quarters of the lower class of natives have been 
allowed to invade every part of the town. 

ILOILO PKOVINCE AND ITS INDUSTRIES. 

The province of Iloilo, consisting of the southern 
half of Panay, is the most populous in the Archi- 
pelago. In former days it exported enormous quan- 
tities of sugar, including a large portion of the IS^egros 
output, besides a considerable amount of hemp and 
other produce. In fact, the shipments of the port ex- 
ceeded those of Manila. With the decline of the 
sugar industry there has been a falling off of the busi- 
ness, but greater attention has been paid to the culti- 
vation of tobacco and the output has increased in 
quantity and quality for some years past. Visayan 
tobacco has such a bad name that it can find a retail 
market outside the group only under an alias, and the 



470 THE PHILIPPINES. 

shipments from Iloilo to the Capital are made up into 
the cheaper brands of ''Manihi" cigars, which sell at 
the rate of three for a cent, local currency. There 
is no good reason why large areas in the Yisayas 
should not grow first-class tobacco under improved 
methods of cultivation. 

In and about Iloilo weaving is a prominent indus- 
try and a large trade in textiles of various kinds is 
carried on with other islands. The commoner fabrics 
are made from cotton and hemp fiber, although some 
very fine cloths are often woven from them. How- 
ever, it is in the production of the gauzy materials 
of pina and silk that the Visayan women excel. The 
work is all done upon hand looms, and it is an ex- 
tremely slow and tedious process, some of the material 
having almost the delicate texture of spider's web. 
The finished product in bright, well-harmonized colors 
is strikingly beautiful. Piim and jusi fabrics are 
admirably adapted for summer wear in the eastern 
States of America, and they should come into use with 
our ladies. Priced by the yard, the best of these pro- 
ductions are rather costly, but judged as one does a 
Kashmir shawl, by the amount of time and labor ex- 
pended upon it, they are dirt cheap. 

The almost squalid aspect of the low-lying city 
upon its swamp-site, is somewhat relieved by the en- 
vironment. The surrounding country is beautiful in 
the extreme. On every side the heavily- wooded land 
rises in gradually increasing eminences until it cul- 



ILOILO rROYINCE AND ITS INDUSTRIES. 471 

minates in loftj mountains in the background. 
]^earbj are Jaro and Molo, picturesque little towns 
where some of the Iloilo merchants have bungalows. 

LOOKOUTS rOE PIEATES. 

At Jaro, the Bishop of the diocese has a summer 
palace and the village contains a very small, but hand- 
some, cathedral. In the vicinity of Iloilo one may see 
an old-time watch-tower, such as is commonly found 
in or near the Visayan coast towns. These circular 
stone buildings, in the form of huge pepper castors, 
are reminders of the days when the islands were the 
constant scenes of Moro outrages. At such seasons as 
were favorable to navigation, a lookout was main- 
tained day and night from these vantage points for the 
dreaded pirates, and at the first appearance of their 
approach the inhabitants of the town or village were 
warned to take to the hills. Cattle were driven off, 
if possible, and as much portable property as could 
be carried was taken along, so that if sufficient time 
had been allowed, there would be little left for the 
Moros but to fire the houses and set sail again. But 
if, as quite often happened, the inhabitants were taken 
unawares, then was their fate unhappy in the ex- 
treme, for the southern pirates knew no pity on 
these expeditions. The village would be sacked and 
the pick of the men and women would be carried 
into slavery, w^hilst the remainder would be put to the 
sword in sheer wanton cruelty. 



472 THE PHILIPPINES. 

In years gone by Mindoro was one of the most pros- 
perous of the islands of the Archipelago. Large areas 
were cultivated by the Tagal inhabitants, who not 
only raised enough to furnish bountifully their own 
needs, but helped to supply the wants of their neigh- 
bors. Their extraordinary prosperity and success 
were, however, the undoing of the Mindoro islanders, 
whose inviting condition aroused the cupidity of the 
More pirates. Time and again the island was raided, 
its towns laid waste, and its able-bodied men and 
young women carried into captivity. At last it be- 
gan to be shunned as a place accursed and its fields 
of grain reverted to wilderness. 

THE KELAPSE OF MIJSTDOEO INTO WII^DEEI^ESS. 

Mindoro is now the chief refuge of criminals from 
the neighboring islands who, once they gain the moun- 
tains of the interior, are able to defy pursuit. These 
outlaws, called tuli&anes, were more or less trouble- 
some in most of the northern provinces, where they 
formed organized bands under recogiiized leaders and 
terrorized large districts. Although these men were 
criminals of the worst type, many of them with mur- 
ders to answer for, the Spaniards made no serious 
eiforts to wipe them out. In fact, if the Civil Guard 
caught one of these banditti and lodged him in jail 
he invariably contrived to bribe his way to liberty 
again. So well was this known that some officers 
of the provincial constabulary made a practice of 



THE SUGAR FIELDS OF NEGROS. 473 

disposing of such prisoners before the municipal head- 
quarters were reached. This was contrived by giv- 
ing the hdisan what appeared to be a good chance to 
escape and shooting him in his tracks before he had a 
fair start. 

THE SUGAR FIELDS OF NEGROS. 

The soil of Negros is mainly devoted to sugar cane, 
but a good quality of Visayan tobacco is also raised 
and cacao of an excellent quality. The sugar crop 
of the island is the only one in the Archipelago that 
is produced on anything approaching a scientific sys- 
tem. This is due to the introduction of foreign capi- 
tal. The estates are not large, very few of them hav- 
ing a capacity in excess of one thousand tons a year. 
Steam and hydraulic machinery is employed on sev- 
eral of them, but it is not of the latest pattern, and 
the entire process, far in advance as it is of the agri- 
cultural methods customary in other parts of the 
Archipelago, is capable of considerable improvement. 
The great difficulty under which the planter labors 
is that of securing sufficient help. High rates of 
wages are paid; nevertheless, it frequently happens 
that the proprietor of a sugar estate sees his crop 
deteriorate because he cannot secure the hands neces- 
sary to harvest it. In many districts it is requisite 
to import laborers, and in all cases they demand con- 
siderable advances before they will enter upon their 
work. The best men are apt to leave after they have 
saved the trifle which is a competency to them. 



474 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Worcester relates an incident which strikingly illus- 
trates the situation. A planter had a field hand who, 
after several years of service, had hecome almost in- 
dispensable to his master. One day he unexpectedly 
announced his intention of ceasing to work. To the 
planter's expostulations the man replied : ^'Senor, 
if you were back at your home in Andalusia living 
in a house as fine as any in the province ; if your food 
and clothing were not only as good as any of your 
neighbors could boast, but were all that you yourself 
desired ; if you had money enough for all present 
and future needs — would you turn your back up to a 
sun as hot as this and worl:f" It is needless to add 
that the master was at a loss for a rejoinder. The 
native has no incentive to w^ork hard and long, and in 
the absence of it there is no reasonable ground for 
expecting him to do so. AYhether his happiness will 
be increased by arousing his ambition is an open ques- 
tion, but it is certain that until he aspires to higher 
things we must not expect to see him exert himself 
beyond the bounds of necessity. It may be that when 
he learns that increase in his worldly possessions will 
not bring upon him burdensome taxation and heavy 
contribution to the Church, he may appreciate some of 
the at present unkno^vn advantages of money. It is a 
strange economic condition, in which a planter finds 
his most desirable laborers amongst men who drink 
and gamble, because they will work harder than moral 
and sober natives in order to earn money to satisfy 
their vicious inclinations. 



THE NATURAL BEAUTIES OF SAMAR. 475 

As a rule, the sugar planters, many of whom are 
Europeans, live comfortably, and some of them lux- 
uriously. There are many handsome houses upon 
the plantations. They have good furniture., car- 
riages, and horses, and are generally within easy 
reach of congenial neighbors. In the halcyon days of 
sugar, the lot of the sugar planter was the most en- 
viable in the islands. He kept open house, stinted 
himself and his family in nothing, ran up to Manila 
once or tw^ice a year, and sometimes returned to Spain 
with a sufficient fortune to enable him to live in ease 
for the rest of his life. It is a pleasure to think 
that there is hope of something like the old times re- 
turning to the planter of Xegros. 

THE NATUKAL BEAUTIES OF SAMAR. 

Samar has an area about twice as large as that of 
Delaware and a population nearly equal to that of 
the American State. The island boasts some of the 
finest scenery in the Archipelago, but owing to the 
difficulties of travel it has not been photographed to 
anything like the extent of less attractive sections. 

So close does Samar approach to Leyte that at one 
point the Strait of San Juanico narrows down to five 
hundred yards. Despite the proximity of the main- 
lands the passage from one shore to the other is an 
extremely difficult one. The Strait is beset w^ith 
numerous tiny islets, around which the rapid current 
eddies with dangerous effect, precluding the employ- 



476 THE PHILIPPINES. 

ment of a sailboat and taxing the skill of the canoist 
to the utmost. The environment is unspeakably pic- 
turesque. The bluffs along the Samar coast are 
pitted with low-lying caves in which have been found 
skeletons of human beings who were much taller 
and larger than any of the present inhabitants of the 
Archipelago. These finds have created an ethnologi- 
cal puzzle, for there is nothing even in the traditions 
of the islanders hinting at any other than the races 
with which we are familiar, and the aborigines were 
dwarfs. Had there been a temporary settlement of 
foreigners here, some additional traces of it should 
exist, and if we look for an explanation in ship- 
wrecked adventurers it is difficult to account for their 
having made sepulchres of these caves. It is an inter- 
esting question. 

The Basey River empties at this point, passing un- 
der a natural arch formed by two limestone rocks 
some forty feet in height. In front opens a portal 
thirty-five feet high, through which the river may be 
seen. In the wall on the left of an oval court thirty- 
seven feet above the water is the entrance to a cave 
which penetrates about one hundred feet inwards. 
Formerly this was a spacious stalactite cavern, but it 
is now partially destroyed by the falling in of the 
rocks which formed the roof. The place is named 
the ''Cuevas de Sojoton/^ 

Another beautiful spot is w^ithin five miles of the 
town of Canaguaion, where the Molo River issues by 



CATBALOGAN. 477 

a mouth about one hundred yards wide between two 
high black rocks, and continues through a series of 
falls for a distance of one-third of a mile. 

A considerable portion of Samar is cultivated in 
hemp, sugar, and other produce, but the greater part 
is forest containing the most valuable woods of the 
Archipelago. There are few roads, and travel and 
traffic are carried on by means of the streams. Every 
village, not immediately upon the coast, is situated 
upon a Avaterway navigable by native boats ; and 
almost all the large amount of produce shipped from 
the island finds its way to the ports by boat. 

♦ 

CATBALOGAN. 

Catbalogan, the capital, is a little town of not much 
more than five thousand inhabitants, and very much 
smaller than several other centres. It has, however, 
a large trade with Manila in hemp, sugar, and cocoa- 
nut. As in every commercial centre, Chinamen are 
prominently engaged in business and get the best of 
the natives at every turn. 

In the vicinity of the town is raised the ''isigud," 
or fruit of San Ignacio, which is known to commerce 
as the ''Catbalogan seed." It is claimed that this 
vegetable is a specific in cholera and that it never 
fails to cure that disease. The Chinese have the great- 
est faith in its properties and take the entire output, 
which is shipped to China. Whether the efficacy of 
the seed has ever been put to scientific test the writer 



478 THE PHILIPPINES. 

is unable to say, but if half its alleged virtue can be 
established it should prove a boon to the inhabitants 
of Eastern countries. 

THE EEMONTADOS^ A REVERSION TO A WILD TYPE. 

The interior of Samar contains many remontados. 
These are natives, who having found the ''call of the 
wild" irresistible, have forsaken civilization and re- 
verted to the primitive condition of their fathers. 
They are not, like the tulisanes, criminals, but usually 
peaceable, fairly industrious people, who form small 
communities and engage in agricultural pursuits. 
When Christianized natives return to the mountains 
they generally retrograde rapidly, frequently marry- 
ing with wild tribes and lapsing into the latter's con- 
dition. 

MASBATE^ A VAST GRAZING GROUND. 

Masbate is noted for its herds of cattle, horses, 
and hogs. Grazing is the chief industry, and up- 
wards of one thousand head of cattle are shipped from 
the island monthly, the greater number going to 
Manila. The trade has thriven since the American 
occupation, and is capable of great extension. The 
system of communication is much the same as in 
Samar, but, if anything, more restricted. There are 
no roads worth mentioning, and very few trails. The 
animals are brought to port on the hoof and shipped 
alive, the refrigerator not yet being a feature of 
Philippine traffic. 



HISTORIC CEBU. 479 

The natives manufacture palm mats tliat are justly 
celebrated for their workmanship and the durability 
of their colors. They are superior to the Japanese 
article and deserve to find a market in America. 

HISTOKIC CEBU. 

Cebu is, from the historical point of view, one of 
the most interesting places in the Archipelago. It 
w^as here that the Spaniards made their first settle- 
ment. Magellan landed on the 7th of April, 1521, 
at the capital of the island, occupying the site upon 
which the present town stands. A hut was im- 
mediately constructed and consecrated. Mass was 
performed in it, and the royal family, with easy in- 
difference, submitted to baptism. It is said that Le- 
gaspi's expedition erected a church upon the exact 
spot where this event took place, and that the building 
still stands in its original form, but this is probably 
a fanciful claim, although rendered less unlikely by 
the fact that Cebu does not appear to be subject to 
the severe earthquake shocks that have devastated the 
centres of Luzon. 

Less than a month after landing, Magellan met 
death on the little mangrove-covered coral island of 
Mactan, which lies a scant mile and a half off Cebu. 
After the loss of its leader the expedition fared badly. 
King Llamadar of the island treacherously murdered 
a number of their party at a banquet and the re- 
mainder shortly afterwards set sail on their long jour- 
ney back to Spain. 



480 THE PHILIPPINES. 

In 1565 . Legaspi arrived at Cebii and despite 
opposition contrived to pacify the inhabitants and 
hold his ground. A fort and other buildings were 
constructed, and in 1670 the place was declared a 
city. 

THE HOLY CHILD OF CEBU. 

It is recorded that a few months after Legaspi 
landed one of his soldiers found a wooden image of 
the Christ Child on the seashore. The appearance of 
the image w^as deemed miraculous, and the Austin 
Friars cherished it as a sacred possession. When 
the Spaniards took possession of the city they erected 
a large bamboo cross. Some years after, a fire swept 
through the quarter where the cross stood, but it ap- 
peared to be impervious to the flames, and in some 
peculiar way its . preservation was attributed to the 
image referred to above. The cross is now exhibited in 
an Oratory adjacent to the Church of the Holy Child 
of Cebu. The first church dedicated to the mystic 
image was destroyed by fire, but the deity escaped 
injury. It is a black, unlovely-looking thing, some- 
what more than a foot high, covered with silver orna- 
ments that have been donated by the devout from time 
to time. It is exposed to public view at intervals, 
when the occasion is one of extreme pomp. Its feast 
is held on the 20th of January, when pilgrims from 
distant parts of the Archipelago come to worship at 
its shrine and obtain absolution for their sins. 



CEBU AS A SHIPPING CENTRE. 481 

Cebu is a port of considerable importance, with a 
population of abont eighteen thousand. For many 
years it ranked next to Manila in commercial stand- 
ing, brt it has in recent times been overtaken and 
passed by Iloilo. Cebu still ships large quantities 
of the hemp and sugar produced by the Yisayan group 
of islands, but its own share in the production is not 
commensurate. It is said that its inhabitants, whilst 
docile and well-disposed, are neither energetic nor 
enterprising. 

The streets of the city are wide and straight, and 
it has some handsome buildings, although during the 
Rebellion it was bombarded by a Government vessel 
with dire effect. 

The Episcopal Palace is a fine structure noted for 
its interior decorations and some unusually good 
paintings. The Bishop's See, which was created in 
the sixteenth century, included the whole of the 
Visayan Islands. The city was also the headquar- 
ters of a Governor, and a General, and, in the old 
days, the social life of the place was very different 
from what it now is. Here, as elsewhere in the 
Visayas, the wholesale business is in the hands of 
Europeans, the largest export houses being British. 
The retail stores are conducted almost exclusively by 
Chinamen, the few exceptions being mestizos. The 
full-blooded native has absolutely no chance in com- 
petition with these, and indeed, he seldom displays 
any ambition for competition. The Chinese shops 

31 



482 THE PHILIPPINES. 

along the Liitao at one time did a good business, and 
the mestizo-Chino section of the Parian was a flourish- 
ing trading quarter until after the bombardment of 

1897. 

OLD LANDMAEKS AND HISTORIC SITES. 

The picturesque fort named after San Vidal, the 
patron of the city, commanded the harbor in the days 
gone by and is one of the landmarks of the Archi- 
pelago best deserving preservation. There are a Cathe- 
dral and several churches, of which that of Santo 
ISTino — the Holy Child — is the most noted and, per- 
haps, the most attractive. Cebu shares the general 
healthfulness of the island, and its surroundings add 
to its attraction as a place of residence. KouHd about 
is very pretty country, and a range of hills backs the 
town. The island has been denuded of most of its 
timber, but the soil is extremely fertile and capable 
of much more extensive cultivation than it is at pres- 
ent put to. The. sugar raised here will compare favor- 
ably with the best production of Xegros, and the 
Cebu com is superior to that raised in any other part 
of the Archipelago. The natives substitute it for rice 
extensively, and this is one of the few places in the 
Philippines where they have learned to prefer the 
former. 

Along the coast of the island is found the famous 
Eegardera de Cebu, or Yenus flower-basket, the only 
one of its genus. The shores are renowned for their 



THE HARDY ISLANDERS OF BOHOL. 483 

rare shells, which include the much-prized Gloria 
Maris. A few years ago many a splendid bargain 
was to be made in the villages along the littoral, but 
the natives are beginning to understand something of 
the values of their finds. Still, Cebu offers a fine 
hunting ground for the conchologist. 

THE HARDY ISLANDEES OF BOHOL. 

The native of Bohol displays a degree of energy 
and initiative which is rare amongst the inhabitants 
of the Philippines. The first uprising of consequence 
occurred in this island in 1622, when the people tired 
of the exactions of the State and the tyranny of the 
Church. It was put down by troops from Cebu, but 
in 1744 similar causes led to another revolt, which 
was followed by a condition of practical independence 
on the part of the Bohol islanders for a period of 
thirty-five years. 

The people of Bohol are famous for their courage 
and the expert use of their favorite weapon, the lance. 
The Moros learned to respect their skill and prowess, 
and although the island was near at hand to the 
Mindanao strongholds of the pirates, it was visited 
by them much less frequently than more distant 

points. 

:N'o doubt the inhabitants of Bohol owe much to the 
disadvantage of their situation. Frequent encounters 
with "the Moros and the necessity for constant pre- 
paredness developed and fostered military qualities. 



484 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The soil of the island lacks the responsive character 
general in the Philippines, and the Bohol cultivator 
v^as early forced to greater activity than, for instance, 
his neighbor on the other side of the Sea of Cebu. 
However, with careful tillage a very creditable quan- 
tity of various vegetable products is raised, sufficient, 
in fact, to leave a respectable surplus for export. A 
great deal of weaving of a good sort is done in the 
towns, a specialty being a peculiar kind of blanket 
and a rush mat called ^'ticay/' In fact, they are a 
very busy people, and fully desen^ing of the good for- 
tune which is likely to overtake them in the near 
future, for Bohol has some excellent timber lands, 
which, though limited in extent, contain valuable 
material, and the conditions are favorable to working 
them. These lands, with the coal fields and iron 
deposits, are bound to attract enterprise and capital 
before long. 

THE ISLAND OF SIQUIJOR. 

Bohol has a notable dependency in the Island of 
Siquijor, which lies to the south. The people tell a 
story of its origin that is probably not far from the 
truth. They say that one day a dense cloud appeared 
over the spot where the island now stands. Out of 
the cloud issued thunder and lightning for several 
hours, and the next morning there was Siquijor, which 
they proceeded to occupy as soon as it had cooled off. 
This was, of course, long ago, but the event has lived 
in tradition. 



DELINQUENT TAXPAYERS. 485 

Siquijor enjoys the remarkable distinction of being 
the most populous section of its size in the Archi- 
pelago ; remarkable because there is absolutely noth- 
ing in the condition of the island to explain the fact. 
The soil is almost barren, and the inhabitants find it 
difficult to gain a subsistence from it. The only thing 
that appears to grow readily is a fair quality of 
tobacco, perhaps the best produced in the Visayas, 
where it is all more or less poor. There is not much 
of a market for it, however, and it generally passes 
into the hands of Chinese traders in exchange for 
cotton cloth. The entire island is a coral structure 
with a very thin and reluctant layer of soil upon it. 
i^Tevertheless, its area of one hundred and twenty-six 
square miles contains a population of upwards of 
forty thousand. Some of these souls make a precari- 
ous living by collecting heche de 77ier and edible birds' 
nests, and a considerable number are engaged in the 
production of sinamay, a rough hemp fabric which is 
used for clothing by the poorer classes. 

THE FATE OF DELINQUENT TAXPAYERS UNDER SPAIN. 

Worcester spent some time on the island hunting 
bird specimens. He says that plenty of men were 
willing to work for him at the rate of five cents a 
day, and not a few asked only for food in compensa- 
tion for their services. Before he left he was wit- 
ness of the harsh measures which the Spanish Gov- 
ernment habitually dealt out to delinquent com- 
munities. 



486 THE PHILIPPINES. 

''The taxes due from that poverty-stricken town 
(Siquijor, the capital of the island) amounted to 
some $5,000 per annum. Cholera had recently devas- 
tated the island ; the crops had failed, and for several 
years it had been utterly impossible for the cahezas lo 
get any such sum out of the half-starved inhabitants. 
There was a shortage of $7,000, and a commission 
had come down from Bohol to try to raise the money. 
Tailing in this, they had seized the cabezas, confis- 
cated their lands, houses, and cattle, and were about 
to deport them because they were guilty of the crime 
of not being rich enough to pay other people's debts ! 
Forty-four men were torn from their homes and 
dragged away into exile, while those dependent upon 
them were left to shift for themselves as best they 
could. 

''The officer in charge of the cahezas informed me 
that they would have the privilege of working out the 
debts of their constituents at the munificent salary of 
six cents per day, from which the expense of their 
food and clothing would be deducted.'* 

LEYTE. 

Leyte is one of the most extensively cultivated sec- 
tions in the Archipelago. One-half of its area, equal 
to two hundred and fifty thousand hectares, is under 
cultivation, mostly in hemp, the remainder of the 
island being mountains or grazing land. A consid- 
erable amount of sugar cane is raised, but Leyte is 



A Weaver. 

The cloth workers are almost all women and in some 
districts, such as Iloilo, their product is an important 
item in the commerce. No little skill and infinite 
patience is required in the manufacture of the finer fab- 
rics — pina and jusi. 

From Stereograph Copyright, by llnderwood & Underwood, New York. 



^*«''i4 S ir.|l|lf 




LEYTE. 487 

essentially a hemp district. In 1899 the exports of 
the fibre approximated one million piculs. The peo- 
ple convert a great deal of the product into fabrics 
of native wear and make from it the caho negro, or 
black boat cable. Boat-buildiiig is quite an industry 
with them. They turn out all kinds of craft — from 
the dugout to the hundred-ton schooner. The larger 
vessels are constructed at the shipyards of Tacloban, 
which employ hundreds of workmen constantly. 
These Leyte shipbuilders display no mean degree of 
skill, and their product is in demand amongst the 
islands of the group. 



MINDANAO AND SULU. 



XIII. 

MINDANAO AND SULU. 

The Miihammadan Invasion — The Social Organization of the 
Muhammadan Malays — The Present Moro Tribes — Dress 
and Manners of the ]\Ioros — The Moro Warrior Presents 
a Bizarre Appearance — The Juramentados — Cruelties of 
the Datos — The Moro is Not a Model Muhammadan — 
The Moro Version of the Story of the Flood — Christ 
and Muhammad in Moro Legend — Basilan and the 
Yakan Moros — The Strange S\yay of a Foreigner Over 
a Moro Communitj^ — The Masterful Rule of Arolas— 
Modern Sulu— The Moro is a Man of the Sea— The 
Origin of the Pearl — The Mother-of-Pearl Industry of 
Sulu. 

Opinions differ as to the time and manner of the 
occupancy of the southern islands by the Muhamma- 
dan Malays. According to Foreman, a former chief 
of Borneo, named Tindig, with his followers, took 
possession of Sulu Island about the time of the Span- 
ish conquest of the Philippines. He appears to have 
been a famous warrior, from whom the later Sultans 
of Sulu w^ere proud to claim descent. 

Tindig had been accompanied by his cousin, Adasa- 
olan, who made his first settlement upon the island 
of Basilan and later formed an alliance with King 
Dimasangcay, of Mindanao, whose daughter he mar- 
ried. Dimasangcay, and doubtless his entire fam- 
ily, embraced the Muhammadan faith. 

(491) 



492 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Adasaolan's ambition grew with his increasing good 
fortune, and he conceived the idea of annexing the 
kingdom of his cousin. In this project he had the 
support of the Mindanao monarch, and their com- 
bined forces made an attack upon Sulu. The expedi- 
tion failed, and after the retirement of the invaders 
Tindig prepared to retaliate in similar manner. 
Some years previously he had established an entente 
with the Spaniards, and now he repaired to Manila 
to seek their aid against his kinsman, and secured a 
promise of assistance. Eelying upon the expected re- 
inforcement, but lacking experience of Spanish tardi- 
ness, Tindig put his enterprise on foot. In the battle 
that ensued the Sulu chieftain was defeated and 
slain. After the event the armed boats from Manila 
arrived and, finding the issue settled, returned, doubt- 
less with a sense of duty done. 

THE MUHAMMADAN INVASION. 

Sulu remained independent, but Adasaolan made 
alliances with the chieftains of Borneo, and there 
was soon an influx of Muhammadans to Mindanao 
and the Sulu Archipelago. 

It has been stated how, at the close of the sixteenth 
century, Estevan Rodriguez, under a grant from the 
Spanish Government, attempted the conquest of Min- 
danao, and how the consequence was like to the dis- 
turbance of a hornet's nest. By that time the king- 
doms of Mindanao and Sulu were on the most friendly 



MUHAMMADAN MALAYS. 493 

terms, and their future piratical ventures were fre- 
quently conducted in co-operation. Por two hundred 
and fifty years every coast of the Colony was ravaged 
by the marauders, who even extended their incur- 
sions to the Bay of Manila. During this period per- 
haps nothing militated more seriously against the de- 
velopment of the islands than this incessant scourge, 
which the authorities were utterly unable to repress 
until after they brought gunboats into play. 

The Moors, or Moros, comprise a number of orig- 
inally distinct tribes which have since intermingled 
and which have always been allied by the common 
bond of religion. Traces of Bornean Dyaks, Bayos 
of Celebes, and Arabs, are frequently seen. There are 
also evidences of crossings with Spaniards and Chi- 
nese. In fact, the practice of carrying off women 
from the scenes of their widespread depredations and 
of cohabiting with them has made the Moros of the 
Philippines one of the most mixed of all Eastern 
races. 

THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE MUHAMMADAN 

MALAYS. 

^'Their essentially feudal institutions,'^ says Reclus, 
^'caused the whole social organization to rest on 
piracy. By the side of the sultans were the almost 
equally powerful vassals, the datu, each of whom, 
with the reservation of homage due to his suzerain, 
became proprietor of the land conquered and the 



494 THE PHILIPPINES. 

wealth plundered by his retainers. The tao marahay, 
or good men, that is the free warriors, accompanied 
them on their predatory expeditions, while the sacope, 
or lack-land class, were reduced to a state of serfdom." 

There can be little question that but for the Spanish 
occupation, this condition Avould have ultimately ob- 
tained throughout the Philippines with a universal 
acknowledgment of the Muhammadan religion. 

The old feudal tenure is fast relaxing its hold 
upon the people, and the Moro nation presents the 
problem of a number of petty chiefs who are breaking 
away from allegiance to their over-lords, but at the 
same time display no disposition to accept a new mas- 
ter kindly. Eeferring to the decline of the sultanates, 
Dr. Barrow says: ''To-day the Sultan of Mindanao 
is an exile from the Eio Grande, with his home at 
Dumanquilas Bay. His prestige is gone, he is poor 
to the point of destitution, and he w^ill never regain 
the position occupied by his predecessors. Such seems 
to be the fate of the sultanate among these tribes when- 
ever the native poAver meets formidable opposition 
and falls, as it invariably must, into the hands of a 
weak and dissipated prince. The present sultanate 
of Sulu is rapidly approaching the state of weakness 
and decay represented by the sultanate of Mindanao, 
and, unless supported by the United States Govern- 
ment, will not be able much longer to command the 
obedience of the Moros of the Sulu Archipelago. The 
days of the Moro power are past. For three centuries 



THE PRESENT MORO TRIBES. 495 

they defied the European and carried war with im- 
punity into his territory. For generation after gen- 
eration the Spaniard stood purely on the defensive 
and sought by treaty and subsidy to win where he 
could not conquer. 

^'There must have been some barbaric splendor 
about these old pirate states when at the height of 
their power and daring. To see how they could im- 
press Europeans one should read the notable volume 
of Captain Forrest, 'A Voyage to New Guinea.' Cap- 
tain Forrest visited and formed an alliance with 
the Sultan of Maguindanao (Mindanao) in 1776. 
There is something almost melancholy about their 
decadence. Theirs were the only political achieve- 
ments of any consequence ever made by the people of 
the Philippines, but their passing, none the less, 
marks a gain for civilization." 

THE PRESENT MOEO TRIBES. 

At the present time the Malanao Moros, or Moros 
of the Lake, are the most numerous tribe in Min- 
danao. Their stronghold is the district of Lake 
Lanao, around which their villages are thickly clus- 
tered. They are believed to number not far short 
of one hundred thousand. 

The Maguindanao Moros, whose name has prac- 
tically the same signification as that of the first named 
tribe, number about fifty thousand, and are to be 
found mainly in the vicinity of Cottabato. This name 



496 THE PHILIPPINES. 

has long been used to designate the warlike Muham- 
madan tribes of the valley of the Rio Grande. They 
were almost the first Moros with whom the Spaniards 
came in contact and their name passed to the island 
itself. Emigrants from this tribe peopled the dis- 
tricts of Zamboango and Davao. In the interior of 
Zamboango are the Kalibuganes, who are derived from 
a mixture with the Subanos. 

The Sulu Moros are found mainly in the group of 
islands of that name, where they form the dominant 
element in the population. AYliere they have emi- 
grated, even in small numbers, their strong person- 
ality and aggressiveness have had a marked influence. 

The Yakan tribe is practically restricted to the in- 
terior of the island of Basilan, the coasts being occu- 
pied by the Samals. 

The Samals are rarely located elsewhere than on 
the seashore. They predominate in the Tawi Tawi 
group, which w^as the most inaccessible stronghold of 
the pirates of whom this tribe was the most active and 
furnished by far the greater number. They are scat- 
tered throughout the Sulu Archipelago, and there are 
numbers of them in the Zamboango district. The 
Samals, who represent the latest Moro immigration, 
are superior to the other tribes in force and intelli- 
gence. 

What differences exist between the various tribes 
seem to be mainly the marks of varying stages of 
removal from savagery, the highest degree being 



DRESS AND MANNERS OF THE MORO. 497 

represented by the Samals, and the lowest by the 
boat-dwelling Bajaus, 

DRESS AND MANNERS OF THE MOROS. 

Physically the Mores are the superiors of the Fili- 
pinos, being taller and more robust; in fact, the Moro 
is often stocky and muscular. A peculiarity is the 
development of the feet and toes, due to the use to 
which they are put in many daily occupations. The 
Moro uses his toes as freely and effectively as we do 
our fingers, and finds it much more convenient to 
pick an object from the ground with them than to 
stoop do\\Ti and raise it with his hand. When he 
climbs a tree the rope is grasped by the feet, and 
when sailing a boat he will take a couple of turns with 
the halyard round the big toe. The Moro dress will 
distinguish him at once from the native of the north. 
The former wears no shirt in or out of his breeches. 
Sometimes the dress consists of nothing more than 
the sarong, a vokiminous cloth tied around the waist 
and falling to the calves of the legs. What may be 
termed the national costume consists of a close-fitting, 
short jacket, and trousers loose in the seat and very 
tight on the legs, reaching to the ankies. These gar- 
ments are often as bright and vari-colored as Joseph's 
coat, and are ornamented with a great number of 
brass buttons. Sometimes straw hats of extraordi- 
nary shapes are worn, but the common headgear is the 
turban, 

32 



498 THE PHILIPPINES. 

A Moro chief in the full panoply of war is rather a 
grotesque object to the unaccustomed eye. Upon his 
head is a brass helmet, into which is stuck the largest 
and stiffest feather procurable. In order to secure the 
headpiece a cloth, perhaps the turban, is lapped 
around it and tied under the chin, giving the warrior 
the appearance of suffering from a severe attack of 
neuralgia. The virile effect of a steel cuirass is 
somewhat mitigated by the gaudy feminine skirt 
which depends from the waists to the knees. 

THE MOEO WAKKIOE PRESENTS A BIZAERE APPEARANCE. 

Most Moro men carry a short dagger stuck in the 
sarong, or at the breeches belt, but if the individual 
is a noble the Tcris takes the place of the former 
weapon. 

The dress of the women is made up of a bodice 
fitting close to the skin and a baggy bifurcated skirt. 
The jahul is a long scarf which is thrown over the 
head and draped about the body. It may be a modi- 
fied survival of the veil worn by Muhammadan women 
in Arabia and other countries. ISTeither sex wears 
shoes as a rule. The women tie their hair up in all 
manner of fantastic knots, while the men leave it 
loose. Children generally go naked at home, but 
wear the sarong in public. 

Like the Filipino, the Moro bathes frequently ; in 
fact, he spends a large proportion of his time in the 
water when conditions are favorable, but it would 



THE JURAMENTADOS. 499 

seem to be from love of aquatic exercise rather than 
from any desire for cleanliness, for their dwellings 
and surroundings are filthy. 

The Moro never goes abroad without a weapon of 
some sort. The Jcris, or baron g, the arms of warfare, 
are the most commonly carried, but sometimes a 
spear, or a club not unlike a boomerang, is the sub- 
stitute. The haroug is a sword with an oval double- 
edged blade, from twelve to eighteen inches long, 
graduating to a point. To decapitate a man with one 
clean stroke is no great feat for a Moro warrior. The 
kins is straight, or wavy, the former being used for 
cutting and the latter for thrusting. A weapon is 
prized for the number of persons it has killed, and 
one that has an established record of a great many 
deaths to its credit will bring a high price. Rifles 
are very highly prize by the Moros, but, fortunately, 
they have always had great difficulty in obtaining 
them. 

The Moro loves to close with his enemy, and his 
weapons are all adapted to hand-to-hand fighting. It 
follows that he is a very dangerous opponent if he 
gets within arm's length, but against troops furnished 
with firearms he has little chance in the open. 

THE JURAMENTADOS. 

The juramentado occasionally furnishes an exam- 
ple of the Moro's capacity for doing execution in a 
crowd. The juramentado is a Muhammadan who 



600 THE PHILIPPINES. 

has taken a religious vow to devote his life to the 
extinction of as many Christians as possible. The 
pandita works the devotee np to the requisite pitch 
of emotional excitement and, perhaps, an extra large 
dose of opium puts the finishing touch to his fanatical 
frenzy. Assured that if he dies in the act of taking 
the life of a Christian all the joys of Paradise will be 
his, the juramentado sets out to find as many victims 
as opportunity may afford. Sometimes a band of 
these devoted murderers act together, and in that 
case they are likely to choose some gathering of a 
village, such as the celebration of a feast day, for the 
occasion of their onslaught. AA^en half a dozen of 
them contrive to get into a throng of this kind, which 
is very seldom, of course, for they are not permitted 
in the Christian towns with their arms, the number 
they will slay in a few minutes is almost incredible. 
Soldiers cannot put them out of action before they 
ha>e done great damage to their ranks. It is told 
how five juramentados charged a company of Spanish 
troops armed with rifles and killed, or badly wounded, 
nineteen of their number before they themselves were 
slain. 

The Moro believes that he is a very superior being, 
and looks upon all other natives with the utmost 
disdain. Religious difference may have a great deal 
to do with this feeling, but the foundation of it proba- 
bly lies in the superior courage of the Muhammadan 
tribes. They are densely ignorant, very few of them 



CRUELTIES OF THE DATOS. 501 

being able to read or write. The knowledge of their 
panditas, or priests, is of a rudimentary character and 
generally limited to a smattering of the "Kitah," as 
they term the Kuran. It is doubtful if one of them 
can read it in the original Arabic. 

CRUELTIES OF THE DATOS. 

The datos, and warrior class, refrained entirely 
from anything like labor. The slaves and women did 
all the work and supplied all the wants of the master 
of the establishment. As a general thing their slaves 
do not appear to have fared badly, although the datos 
were capable of the worst barbarities on occasion and 
treated attempts to escape with the utmost severity. 
Dato Uto, a representative of the latter-day Moros, 
was notorious for the refinement of the cruelties he 
practiced upon his slaves. Those who were caught in 
an attempt to escape had the tendons of their legs 
cut below the knees so that they could never after 
walk except with great difficulty. Others he caused 
to be bound naked to trees, where they would be 
exposed to the burning rays of the sun by day and the 
stings of mosquitoes and other insects at night. Death 
within forty-eight hours was the frequent result of 
this treatment. 

Moros of all classes, from the sultan to the sacope, 
are born thieves. They rob whenever opportunity 
presents itself and from neighbors or kinsmen as 
readily as from strangers, as much apparently for 



502 THE PHILIPPINES. 

the pleasure derived from the act as from desire for 
the object stolen. 

THE MOKO IS NOT A MODEL MUHAMMADAN. 

The Moro is far from being an orthodox Muham- 
madan; indeed the Moslem of civilization would 
hardly recognize him as a co-religionist. The Moro 
falls very short of living up to the dictates of the 
Kuran and frequently violates its stern prohibi- 
tion against indulgence in strong dvink. Toward 
strangers the Mussalmin of the Philippines have al- 
ways displayed the greatest reticence regarding the 
particulars of their religious belief, and investigators 
generally meet with a flat refusal to impart informa- 
tion, or else are put off with a recital of a fanciful 
nature. Worcester appears to have been unusually 
fortunate in this respect. He contrived to gain the 
confidence of the Minister of Justice of the sultanate 
of Mindanao, "a very intelligent man, who looked as 
if he had white blood in his veins." During a suc- 
cession of visits, in which the chief attraction was 
^'a microscope and sundry copies of illustrated 
papers," this person stated that the Moros believe that 
there is but one universe and one God. He is om- 
nipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, and his form 
is that of our thoughts. The air above us and the 
space beneath the earth are inhabited by spirits. Ani- 
mals have spirits, but they expire with the death of 
the creature, whilst the soul of man lives on forever. 



THE MORO RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 503 

It enters the body through a hole in the top of the 
skull, contrived for that purpose, and leaves it 
through the same aperture. During life the soul 
permeates the entire body, as is proved by the fact 
that the whole structure is sensitive. Some panditas 
maintain that after death the soul immediately re- 
pairs to the presence of God; others that it goes be- 
neath the earth to rest in oblivion until the judgment 
day. The soul of a bad man is eventually consigned 
to hell, where he suffers torment regulated according 
to the character of his misdeeds. The offending mem- 
ber of the body is the seat of pain. There is no fire 
in hell. ""^^Hiiere would the fuel come from?" In 
the course of time the wicked expiate their sins and 
are taken into heaven. According to some priests 
evil brings its own punishment in mental and physical 
suffering upon the earth, and atonement comes before 
death. 

The purged soul will have the same form as the 
body, but will be like ^^gold and diamonds,'^ that is, 
glorified. Certain Moro theologists teach that the 
souls of the good wait in the air, and those of the bad 
in the earth, until the final reckoning at the end of 
the world. At that time, all souls will be carried up 
by a great wind to the Mount of Calvary, where they 
will be confronted by Gabriel, Michael, and the 
Weigher, who will place each one in the scales. Souls 
heavy with sin will be sent to hell. 



504 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The Moros know all the prominent characters of 
the Old Testament, '^Ibrahim/' ^^JS^o," "Mosa/' 
"Daud;' ^'Yakiib," ^^Sulaiman/' and the rest, and 
have woven around some of them marvelous tales of 
fabulous adventure. Like all people, even the most 
primitive, they have their story of the flood. 

THE MOEO VERSIOIT OF THE STORY OF THE FLOOD. 

When the forty days and nights of rain set in, 
Noah and his family went into a box, taking with 
them one pair of each sort of bird and beast. People 
who neglected the opportunity to join the patriarch 
were overtaken by the flood and providentially 
changed to forms that had some chance to survive. 
Those who took to the hills became monkeys ; those 
who made for the water became fish. The Chinaman 
was changed to a hornbill. A woman who was eating 
the fruit of a seaweed was turned into a fish called 
dugong, and her limbs may be seen under its skin 
to this day. 

Worcester had made several unsuccessful attempts, 
in difl^erent parts of the Moro country, to get an ex- 
planation of the strong aversion of the people to pork. 
One day his friend, the Minister, called in a state of 
inebriation and, taken off his guard, made the follow- 
ing interesting statement: 

CHRIST AND MUHAMMAD IN MORO LEGEND. 

^'Jesus Christ, called by the Moros Isa, was a man 
like ourselves, but great, and good, and very power- 



A MORO LEGEND. 505 

f ul. He was not a son of God. The Moros hate and 
kill the Christians because they teach that men could 
slay a son of God. 

''Mohamoud had a grandson and a granddaughter 
of whom he was very fond. As he was king of the 
world, Christ came to his house to visit him. Mo- 
hamoud, jealous of him, told him to prove his power 
by divining' what he had in a certain room, where, 
in fact, Avere his grandchildren. Christ replied that 
he had no wish to prove his power and would not 
Mivine' (divinar). Mohamoud then vowed that if 
he did not answer correctly he would pay for it with 
his life. Christ responded : 'You have two animals in 
there different from anything else in the world.' 
Mohamoud replied : 'You are wrong, and I will now 
kill you.' Christ said : 'Look first and see for your- 
self.' Mohamoud opened the door and out rushed 
two hogs into which Christ had changed his grand- 
children." 

Worcester goes on to say : "Moros are forbidden to 
tell this story to infidels because it shows that Christ 
outwitted their great prophet. When my informant 
sobered up and realized what he had done, he hung 
around, day after day, beseeching me not to let any 
one know what he had told me, from which fact I 
inferred that he thought he had told me the truth and 
not a fable invented for the occasion." 

In their futile attempts to subdue the Moros the 
Spaniards established garrisons in the south, but 



606 THE PHILIPPINES. 

beyond the immediate neighborhood of these posts 
the authority of the white man was merely nominal. 
The Moros were never compelled to pay taxes, and in 
recent years an effort to collect trihuto resulted in the 
annihilation of the entire garrison at Sulu. 

The earliest Spanish post among the Moros was at 
Zamboanga, where the old fort is still a feature of 
the town. It proved to be, more on account of the 
negligence of the authorities than from the natural 
unhealthiness of the climate^ a veritable death-trap. 
For many years the casualties, due to disease, repre- 
sented eighty per cent, of the force, l^evertheless, 
as the service was invested with the character of a 
crusade, soldiers embraced it willingly. 

BASILAR AND THE YAKAJsT MOEOS. 

At the village of Isabel, the capital of Basilan, the 
Spaniards had another post, with a military depot 
on the neighboring islet called Malamaui. 

The Yakan Moros of Basilan had acquired an un- 
enviable reputation for disregard of the laws of man, 
or God, but towards the close of the Spanish regime 
they were held in check under very curious circum- 
stances. 

Their dato was, and probably is yet, a Visayan, or 
Tagal, criminal who had been sent down to the penal 
settlement at San Ramon, near Zamboanga, which is 
at present the site of a model farm. The convict, 
whose name was Pedro Cuevas, planned escape with 



STRANGE SWAY OF A FOREIGNER. 507 

two of his fellow prisoners. Whilst at work in the 
fields one day they overcame their guard, killed the 
Spanish officer in charge, and got away, taking a 
carbine with them. 

They immediately followed the coast to Ayala, 
which they reached on the night following the day of 
their coup. Here they murdered a Chinese shop- 
keeper, plundered his store of what they needed, and, 
securing a boat, crossed over to Basilan. On landing, 
they proceeded at once to the nearest village and to 
the house of the dato, upon whom Pedro called to 
come out and fight. Such an invitation was never 
declined by a Moro, and the chieftain rolled out of 
bed with alacrity and soon emerged from his hut with 
lance and shield. The combat was a very unequal 
one, for before the Yakan could use his weapon 
Pedro shot him dead. The convict then turned his 
carbine upon the assembling villagers with such effect 
that before daybreak they -were glad to install him in 
the place of the fallen dato. 

THE STRANGE SWAY OF A FOREIGNER OVER A MORO 

COMMUNITY. 

Dato Pedro subdued the neighboring villages one 
after another and rapidly established a reputation 
for bravery and, which was of equal influence with 
the Moros, for having a charmed life. In a short 
time he had practical control of the entire island. He 
maintained his rule with an iron hand and hundreds 



508 THE PHILIPPINES. 

of stories are told of his despotic practices. The 
slightest opposition to his wishes met with immedi- 
ate death. One of many similar stories is that a 
visitor from Zamboanga happened to admire a horse, 
upon which a Moro from a nearby village had just 
ridden up to Dato Pedro's house. The chieftain 
asked his friend if he would like to have it, and being 
answered in the affirmative, without more ado shot 
the rider as he sat in the saddle and presented his 
mount to the visitor. 

Pedro contrived to ingratiate himself with the 
Spanish authorities at Isabel, who realized the ad- 
vantage of having the unruly inhabitants of the island 
held in leash by a man on friendly terms with them- 
selves. His crimes against the State were pardoned 
and he lived on excellent terms with the resident 
governor. 

The domination of this remarkable man over an 
island full of turbulent Moros was due in a measure 
to the fact that he only among them possessed fire- 
arms, but probably in a much greater degree to their 
belief that he was impervious to harm. The natives 
of the Philippines everywhere believe that certain in- 
dividuals have charmed lives. Almost all the leaders 
of the bands of tulisanes enjoy this distinction. To 
attempt to injure such a one is not only useless, but 
highly dangerous and foolhardy. 

The administration of General Arolas, though free 
from acts of barbarity, was characterized bv the un- 



THE MASTERFUL RULE OF AROLAS. 509 

flinching severity of Pedro, and, as the former was 
the only Spaniard who ever succeeded in maintaining 
order among the Moros, the methods of these two men 
in their respective spheres may afford some hint as 
to the most effective means of dealing with the unruly 
people of the southern islands. 

The Moros called Arolas '^papa," the term denot- 
ing, however, not affection, but respect. These people 
can understand justice, but they have no appreciation 
of kindness, which they invariably construe as a 
sign of weakness. They soon learned that Arolas 
never indulged in idle talk, or feeble threats. His 
promise, whether it entailed good or ill, was sure of 
fulfillment. His order disobeyed was inevitably fol- 
lowed by punishment. He made little distinction be- 
tween Avhite men and brown, dato or slave. 

In Arolas' day, Sulu was the cleanest town in the 
Colony, and probably the cleanest under Spanish 
administration anywhere. The streets were covered 
with white sand and regularly swept twice a day, not 
that they needed it, but, as the Governor was wont to 
declare, ^'if it were not done twice a day soon it 
would not be done once a week." A story was cur- 
rent that he had issued an order forbidding the trees 
to shed their leaves upon his streets. A white man 
who threw a cigar stub or a scrap of paper upon the 
street was promptly fined and a native thrashed. 



510 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The wide thoroughfares and ample sidewalks, bor- 
dered by cement gutters and lined with shade trees, 
are laid out with exact uniformity and at right angles. 
Scarcely a trace of the ancient town was left when 
the Spaniards, in 1878, took it and cleared the site 
preparatory to building the present town, with its 
defensive walls of brick, and redoubts and block- 
houses. 

MODERN SULU. 

Sulu was the ancient capital of the Sultans and the 
centre of Morodom. After its capture the native 
capital was transferred to Maibun on the south coast, 
and here the Sultan has his residence to-day. 

The houses have an unfamiliar appearance to the 
visitor from the northern islands. They are painted 
white, or treated with calsomine, and the nipa roof 
of the Filipino dwelling is entirely absent. There 
are several substantial buildings of stone used for 
public purposes and to quarter the troops. For the 
accommodation of the Moros who come in on certain 
days with produce and merchandise, a large market 
has been recently constructed. 

Sulu is only a good sized military post with a popu- 
lation of a f CAV hundred, only four of w^hom are Moros, 
but it is a beautiful little place, enjoying good water 
and a salubrious climate. 

The anchorage is good and a stone pier runs more 
than one hundred yards into the sea, with a light- 



A Village Scene. 

Like most Oriental women those of the Philippines 
can carry heavy burdens upon their heads, and the 
practice gives them an upright and graceful carriage. . 

From Stereograph Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



THE MORO IS A MAN OF THE SEA. 511 

house at the end of it, for Sulu is a port of consid- 
erable consequence, having direct communication with 
Singapore and Manila, and doing a large interisland 
trade. The export business is almost entirely in the 
hands of Chinese. 

THE MORO IS A MAN OF THE SEA. 

The Moro is almost an amphibian and the only- 
kind of work to which he takes at all kindly is 
connected with the w^ater. Children are at home in 
it as soon as they can walk, and swim and dive with 
remarkable ease and confidence. The men are the 
most expert divers in the world, and can remain 
under the surface for several minutes at a time. 
They frequently encounter sharks, but are absolutely 
fearless and will often plunge in and attack the 
creatures with a knife. 

The principal industry of the Sulu Archipelago is 
the collection of sea-produce, and competent judges 
have declared that it is capable of great extension. 

Pearls and mother-of-pearl are secured in large 
quantities in these waters, where the most perfect con- 
ditions exist for the development of the mollusks. 
It is said that the area suited to the growth of the 
pearl-oyster approximates fifteen thousand square 
miles, an extent of bed more than sufficient to supply 
the present large demand of the whole world for 
mother-of-pearl. 

The search for pearls is a very precarious occupa- 



512 THE PHILIPPINES. 

tion, and the Moro divers consider it merely inci- 
dental to the collection of the more certain product. 
A tally was kept of five thousand bivalves, and it 
was found that they did not yield a single pearl worth 
twenty-five dollars. On the other hand, it is said 
that an Englishman, a few years since, discovered 
a shell devoid of the oyster but holding sixty-five 
pearls. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE PEARL. 

"There have been all sorts of theories advanced as 
to the origin of the pearl. One ancient author states 
that the oyster rises to receive the raindrops which 
are afterwards converted into pearls, and this theory 
obtained amongst the natives of the new world at 
the time of Columbus, as they thought they were 
formed from petrified dewdrops in connection with 
sunbeams. . . . The prevailing idea, however, 
amongst scientists is that the formation is caused by 
an effort on the part of the oyster in which the pearl 
is found to rid itself of an irritation caused by the 
presence of some foreign body which excites the secre- 
tion of nacreous matter, in concentric layers, until 
the foreign substance is encysted, much in the same 
manner as the human body encysts foreign bodies em- 
bedded therein, and renders them comparatively harm- 
less. The experience of pearl-fishers lends weight 
to thi? theory, because they find that shells irregular 
in shape, stunted in growth, bearing excrescences, or 



MOTHER-OF-PEARL INDUSTRY. 513 

having shell honeycombed by parasites, are the most 
likely to yield pearls." 

The Sultan of Sulii has always been the owner of 
some of the finest pearls in the world, secured from 
the waters of his own territory. From time to time, 
as funds ran low with the potentate, rare specimens 
from his treasury have found their way to London 
and Paris. 

The Sultan, who died in 1879, was known to pos- 
sess a box full of pearls of extraordinary value, but 
after his death they disappeared. Subsequently his 
son and successor recovered a portion of the stolen 
gems, and in 1882 sold a few in order to defray the 
expenses of his pilgrimage to Mecca. He must be 
at present the possessor of a very fine collection. 

THE MOTHER-OF-PEARL INDUSTRY OF SULU. 

The hard, silvery, iridescent coat, which adds 
greatly to the commercial value, is especially charac- 
teristic of the Sulu pearl. The mother-of-pearl, too, 
from this region ranks the highest in the market, 
bringing as great a price as nine hundred dollars a 
ton. 

The chief sources of the world's supply of this 
ornamental material are Torres Strait, Western Aus- 
tralia, and the Sulu Archipelago. Until 1886 Manila 
was the chief centre of this trade in the Orient, but 
the short-sighted policy of the Colonial Government 
forced its transfer to the British port of Singapore. 

33 



514 THE PHILIPPINES. 

The present trade of the United States in this 
product is in an abnormal condition. The raw ma- 
terial is derived from American territory, but passes 
through Singapore into the hands of British im- 
porters in London, whence it is shipped to the United 
States and worked np in American factories. The 
business is one of no small consideration, as is proved 
by the fact that the United States has for several 
years past consumed more than one million dollars' 
worth of the material annually. 



VITAL ISSUES. 



XIV. 

VITAL ISSUES.* 

The Inception of American Rule — Police — Education — Ju- 
diciary — Personal Rights — The Friar Lands — The Ques- 
tion of Independence — "The Philippines for the Filipinos" 
— The Popular Assembly — An Unselfish Administration 
■ — Taxpaying Capacity — Natural Resources — Trade Rela- 
tions with the United States — The Local Business Situa- 
tion — The Projected Railroad System — The Labor Question 
— Climatic Conditions — The Broader Policy. 



President McKinley conceived that tlie war might 
be brought to an end if with the rigor of a military 
campaign he mingled, as an object lesson, the peaceful 
methods of organizing civil government, and so he 
sent a civil commission, which, following in the wake 
of the army wherever it deemed conditions favorable, 
organized municipal and provincial governments on 
bases so liberal in the matter of autonomy as to sur- 
prise the inhabitants of the islands. The municipal 
code gave complete autonomy to the people — that 



* The following chapter is composed of literal extracts 
from public addresses delivered by the Hon. William H. Taft 
during the year 1904, discussing the most important issues 
connected with the Philippines. 



(517) 



518 THE PHILIPPINES. 

is, to those eligible to vote, who constitute hardly 15 
per cent, of the total population. The organization 
of governments began after the second election of 
McKinley. Then, too, was formed the Federal party, 
a party the main plank of w^hich was peace under 
the sovereignty of the United States ; and the second 
plank of which expressed hope that, as the people de- 
veloped in the course of self-government, the Archi- 
pelago might be received, first, as a Territory and 
then as a State. 

The leading members of the Federal party had 
been Americanistas and always sympathized wdth 
America in its desire to establish just and well- 
ordered government there. They now were able to 
unite with them in every town in the islands a great 
majority of the respectable people — the educated, 
wealthy people — who, overcoming their fear of as- 
sassination and intimidation by the guerrillas, came 
together in such force as to protect themselves, and 
joined in making up municipal and provincial gov- 
ernments under the American sovereignty, which are 
the foundation of the present general government in 
the islands. The provincial government was not en- 
tirely autonomous. It was left to the people to elect 
the governor. The other provincial officers were ap- 
pointed. Certain of them were selected under the 
CIVIL-SERVICE LAW. In the central government the 
commission of five Americans Avas increased by three 
Filipinos, and a civil governor was subsequently ap- 



ORDER AND EDUCATION, 519 

pointed, who was a member of the commission, but 
did not have the veto power. That power resided 
in the Secretary of War. All this was done under 
President McKinley as Commander-in-Chief, and 
was a quasi military government until, by an act 
passed in July, 1902, the government which had been 
formed was confirmed by Congressional action and its 
powers considerably enlarged and extended. By that 
act a popular assembly will be elected in 1906, and 
will form one branch of the law-making power of the 
islands. 

The next thing which was done was the suppression 
of ladronism. In order to do this it became neces- 
sary to create a force of native constabulary in each 
province under American officers. I^umbering 6,500, 
with the assistance of 3,500 Philippine scouts, the 
constabulary in two years after the close of the insur- 
rection HAS REDUCED LADRONISM to Icss of a nuisanco 
than it ever has been in the history of the islands. 
The constabulary has had its defects and its abuses, 
but on the whole it has done remarkable work in 
policing so many islands occupied by so many mil- 
lions of people. The army has been called on onl.y 
in three or four instances. The task of suppressing 
the ladrones has been done almost wholly by Filipinos. 

The next thing which was done was to establish an 
educational system, and a thousand American teach- 
ers were imported and sent over the islands to teach 
the children, and to exercise the beneficent iufiucnce 



520 THE PHILIPPINES. 

that teachers, as almoners of that which is most val- 
uable from the government, are able to exercise among 
people who hold in high esteem, education. 



There has been considerable criticism of the edu- 
cational system in the Philippines, and I do not say 
that the system is perfect, but I do say we are accom- 
plishing very substantial results. We are teaching the 
people English, and the people desire to learn English. 
Certain persons who have not been in the islands, or 
who were there so short a time as to learn but little, 
are quite contemptuous of the attempt on the part of 
the Government to teach English. There is no 
JUSTIFICATION FOR THEIR SNEERS or Contempt. We 
are now teaching only about 10 per cent, of the youth 
of the islands of school age, but we are preparing a 
very large number of Filipino teachers in English 
at normal schools. We send 100 Filipino students a 
year to study in America. From these sources we 
expect to fill the ranks of the Filipino teachers with 
English-speaking Filipinos, so that in less than a 
decade we shall be able to offer to every Filipino child 
who will study, the means of learning English and 
of getting an elementary education, and of studying 
in training schools when he is adapted to learn the 
trades. 

The eagerness with which English is studied by 
the Filipino finds its cause in the badge of equality 



PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 621 

which the opportunity offered constitutes. Under the 
Spanish regime the study of Spanish by the masses 
was not favored. I fear that the contempt felt for 
our efforts to educate the Filipinos finds its reason in 
a desire to get rid of the islands. I agree that such 
a system of education as that which we are preparing 
is probably inconsistent with a short stay of the 
United States in the islands. We cannot teach Fili- 
pinos English in a year. We can hardly teach them 
English in a generation. We can only teach them 
English thoroughly through the children, but we 

MUST WAIT UNTIL THE CHILDREN GROW UP and bc- 

come men before the adults shall speak English. 
Now, it is absolutely essential to the preparation of 
the people of the Philippine Islands for any kind of 
permanent self-government in which there shall be 
the safety brake of a popular, intelligent public opin- 
ion, that the 90 per cent, of ignorant people in the 
islands should be given a chance to receive an ele- 
mentary education, and it is upon this fact that I 
found the judgment that if we are in the islands and 
expect to discharge our duty to the people of the 
islands and prepare them for self-government, we can- 
not hope to do so short of a generation or longer. 

ISText in order, we have attempted to construct pub- 
lic improvements in the islands. Indeed, it comes 
first in order, for the first act which was passed was 
the appropriation of $1,000,000 from the treasury for 
the construction of roads, under the control of the 



622 THE PHILIPPINES. 

military government. This money was expended as 
economically as possible by the military governor, 
and I doubt not has done considerable good in the 
country. But the effect of the torrential rains upon 
the macadamized roads in the tropics is so destructive 
that it requires nearly as much to keep a road in re- 
pair as it does for its original construction ; -and the 
dreadful agricultural depression, due to the death of 
nearly all the cattle from rinderpest, and the conse- 
quent failure of local taxes due to this depression, 
have caused local authorities necessarily to neglect the 
repairs. 

The Commission has expended two millions and has 
contracted to spend two millions more in the con- 
STEU'CTioi^ OF PORT WORKS AT Manila^, and about 
half a million at Cebu and Iloilo. Mr. Colquhoun 
complains that the money for Cebu and Iloilo has 
been appropriated but has not yet been expended. 
This is true. We have advertised for bids, but when 
I left the islands we had not succeeded in inducing 
anybody to undertake the w^ork. Since leaving the 
islands I understand that a contractor has taken the 
work at Cebu. It must be imderstood, even by an 
active, enterprising Englishman, that in a country 
like the Philippines, where there are not many con- 
tractors, there is very little capital, and the former 
unsettled conditions do not attract many contractors 
from abroad. It is difficult to seciire the doing of 
work even if you have the money and will. Millions 



Native Police. 

A squad of native policemen armed with bolos, and 
one of their giiardhonses at Cebn. These men are 
Visayans. 

From Stereograjih Copyright, by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



THE JUDICIARY. 523 

are now being spent in the islands on roads, and if 
we can secure the requisite legislation I am sure that 
millions more will be spent in the construction of rail- 
roads. The truth is, it is much more economical to 
construct railroads than it is to construct wagon roads, 
and railroads will revolutionize business and society 
in the islands. 

The third thing which we have done is to establish 
a judiciary system. It was proposed that we have 
what is called United States Court, in which foreign- 
ers and Americans could be heard against the natives, 
and that the other courts should be courts for natives 
only. We declined to take this view, and created 
courts in which both native and American judges sit. 

The SUPREME COUET OF THREE FiLIPINO JUDGES and 

four American judges will compare favorably with 
any supreme court of the States, and the courts of 
first instance, numbering now fifteen, in which part 
of the judges are native and part American, covering 
the entire Archipelago, are doing their work well, and 
are bringing to the people an understanding of what 
the administration of justice should be. I think there 
is no one part of the government in which we may 
justly take more pride than in the judiciary, and 
while its organization has been surrounded with great 
difiiculty because of the necessity of interpreting from 
the Spanish language into the English, and from 
English into the Spanish, and because of the necessary 
ignorance of the Filipino judges of American pro- 



524 THE PHILIPPINES. 

cedure, and the necessary ignorance of the American 
judges of the civil substantive law, nevertheless the 
obstacles seem to have been overcome, and the system 
works much more smoothly than could have reason- 
ably been expected. 

We have not disturbed in the slightest the sub- 
stantive law of the islands, which is embraced in 
civil codes, the chief of which were the civil, the 
mortgage, and the commercial codes. We have 
adopted a civil code of procedure to take the place 
of the Spanish code of procedure, which was so tech- 
nical as to enable an acute lawyer to keep his op- 
ponent stamping forever in the vestibule of justice. 
The criminal code of procedure, adopted by general 
order of General Otis, follows the California code. 
It is simple, and seems to be effective. The criminal 
code itself of Spain, eliminating political offenses and 
religious offenses, is quite well adapted to the people,, 
and no substantial change has been made therein. A 
few crimes have been added to meet the exigencies 
of ladronism, and to prevent the press from an abuse 
of their privileges. But all these provisions were 

WITHIiq^ THE COI^STITUTIOISrAL LIMITATIONS^ which, 

by virtue of the instructions of Mr. McKinley to Mr. 
Root, and their confirmation by the Congress of the 
United States, extended to the people of the islands 
all the civil rights included in the Bill of Rights, ex- 
cept the right to bear arms and the right to trial by 
jury. 'NoWy I have been frequently asked in let- 



PERSONAL RIGHTS. 525 

ters from suspicious individuals, resident in and about 
Boston, whether it is true that all the civil rights are 
secured to the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands. 
Are they not still subject to the surveillance and an- 
noyances which they encountered under the Spanish 
rule ? With respect to this I should like to say first 
that any inhabitant of the Philippine Islands is 
entitled to apply to court for the preservation of every 
right mentioned in the Bill of Rights, save the right 
of trial by jury and the right to bear arms, and 
that if he will assert his right it will be secured to 
him. 

It may be that in the province of Cavite, where 
ladronism is so ingrained that it has been necessary 
at times to declare martial law and to suspend the 
writ of habeas corpus, this is not true. Everywhere 
else it is the fact. Xow, the question is asked. Are 
not people arrested for exhibiting seditious plays ? 
My answer to that is that they have been. In Manila 
the exhibition of a play in which the American flag 
IS STAMPED UPON and spit upon, and American sol- 
diers are represented as being killed, and the Amer- 
ican nation as overwhelmed by violence, is an invita- 
tion to force and violence against the government by 
the ignorant people, and its suppression by arrest of 
the instigators is no violation of the Bill of Rights. 

The question is asked whether a man may advocate 
the independence of the islands by peaceable means 
and be free from prosecution and persecution by the 



526 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Government. My answer is that he may. There is 
a party — the l^ationalist party — a plank in whose 
platform is the obtaining of independence by peace- 
able means. I do not mean to say that where a sus- 
pected insurrecto, one suspected of membership in the 
physical-force party, is loud in his advocacy of inde- 
pendence, that he may not, by the secret service bu- 
reau of the police, be subjected to surveillance, but 
that is an incident from which even citizenship in 
THIS COUNTRY IS NOT FEEE. It sufficcs that he Can- 
not be prosecuted or convicted for advocating inde- 
pendence by peaceable means. 

N^ext we have attempted, as far as we could, to 
relieve the political situation in the islands from cer- 
tain disturbing factors growing out of their religious 
history. Spain took over the islands in 1564, when 
she sent Legaspi as military commander of a fleet 
of five ships, and five Augustinian friars, inchiding 
Urdaneta, to take possession of the islands. With 
very little friction she assumed sovereignty over the 
whole Archipelago, and it is not too much to say that 
the islands were brought under Spain's control and 
influence not by force, but by the peaceful exertions 
of the Spanish friars of the five orders — the Domini- 
cans, Augustinians, Eecoletos, Franciscans, and 
Jesuits. The men of these religious orders labored 
for three centuries to make Christians of the Fili- 
pino people. They taught them the arts of agricul- 
ture and gave them other instruction. Until the nine- 



THE FRIAR LANDS. 527 

teenth century they exercised great control over the 
natives by reason of their sincere protection of the 
natives' rights. 

Before 1800 they received natives into their orders 
and permitted the hierarchy to be partly filled by 
natives. During the last century, however, there grew 
np a feeling of jealousy between the native clergy and 
the friars, growing out of their rivalry for rectorships 
in parishes throughout the islands. Added to this, 
when the Suez Canal was opened hordes of Span- 
iards CAME to the islands, offices were greatly in- 
creased, taxes became heavier, and the hospitality of 
the Filipinos, so freely offered, was abused. The 
young and educated Filipino began to have concep- 
tions of liberty and a better administration of govern- 
ment. The Spanish authorities were glad to use the 
friars, who were reactionary in their opinion, as civil 
instruments in the detection and prosecution of such 
sentiments. Hence it was that the government and 
the friars were brought together in opposition to the 
Philippine people and a hostility was engendered 
which knew no limit against those priests whose pre- 
decessors with utmost self-sacrifice and loving devo- 
tion to duty had Christianized the islands and pre- 
pared their people for a higher civilization. The 
spirit of vengeance against the friars was sufficiently 
shown in the revolution of 1898, when 40 of their 
number were killed by the people and the insurgents 
and 300 were imprisoned and subjected to all sorts 



528 THE PHILIPPINES. 

of indignities and suffering until released by the 
American troops. In this state of public feeling it 
is not surprising that the ownership of 400,000 of the 
BEST ACRES IN THE ISLANDS bj tlic rcligious ordcrs 
caused an agrarian revolt among their tenants, and 
the question of the collection of their rents, their title 
to the land being clear, became a very serious one. 
They did not collect any rents from 1896 to 1903. 
Courts were then opened and the friars had the right 
to resort to them for collection, not only of the rents 
just accruing but also for the rents from 1898, A 
general attempt to collect such rents must have re- 
sulted in judgments. There w^ould have followed the 
eviction of some 60,000 people at the instance of the 
unpopular religious orders. The situation was criti- 
cal. A visit to Rome for consultation upon this ques- 
tion seemed wise, and it was undertaken. 

A general basis of agreement w^as reached with th« 
Vatican, and after a year of negotiation in the 
islands a price was fixed upon the lands and the con- 
tract of purchase made last December ; the money for 
the purchase price has been borrowed and is in the 
banks awaiting perfecting of the titles and the sur- 
veys necessary for the description of the land. " As an 
accompaniment of the purchase of the lands and a re- 
sult much to be desired, the number of friars in the 
islands has been reduced from something over 1,000 

* The "friar lands" have since been transferred to the 
United States. — Authob. 



THE QUESTION OF INDEPENDENCE. 529 

in 1898 to about 246 on the 1st of January, 1904, and 
of these 246, 83 are Dominicans who have renounced 
any right to go into the parishes, 50 are infirm and 
unable to do any work, so that only about 100 are 
available, and many of these are engaged in educa- 
tional work. The intervention of the Spanish friars, 
therefore, ceases to become important, because 
there are not enough of them in the 900 parishes to 
cause any considerable disturbance. This certainly 
removes a great cause of contention and contributes 
to the tranquility of the islands. 

And now, gentlemen, what of the future ? It has 
been strongly urged by a large number of citizens of 
high standing that we ought now to promise ultimate 
independence to the Filipinos. I beg, respectfully, to 
differ from this view. The promise which it is pro- 
posed to give is a promise w^hich must be conditioned 
on THE FITNESS OF THE FiLiPiNos for self-govcm- 
ment. The promise holds up to the people of the 
islands for constant discussion as a present issue the 
question, "Are we now fitted for self-government ?" 
There may be some people in Manila and the islands 
who know and are ready to say that the people are 
unfitted, but, on the other hand, the Filipinos are not 
different from other people, and the great majority 
of them would say with emphasis, "We are entirely 
fitted for self-government." The moment therefore 
that formal promise is made that the Filipinos shall 

34 



530 THE PHILIPPINES. 

have independence when they are fitted for it, it willl 
be accepted by them as a promise of independence in 
the immediate future. 

Dealing with the Filipinos, we must speak with 
exact truth. The truth may be unpalatable, but they 
will accept it. But w^e must not mislead them. Xow, 
if we are right in our plan that we have begim, of 
trying to do this people good, of extending to them 
civil liberty, of giving them an opportunity for educa- 
tion, and of learning the art of self-government and 
political control by exercising a part of it, then it is 
essential that they should assist, as far as possible, in 
the government, and should help it along. The move- 
ment, in order to be a success, must needs have the 
support of the intelligent and conserv^ative, but if the 
issue as to their fitness for self-government is thrust 
into politics, and the construction of the promise as 
one of the immediate future follows as it certainly 
will, then the interest in the present government, even 
on the part of the most conservative, must wane, and 
the plans for a gradual education of the Filipinos in 
self-government must fail. I agree that if all one 
wishes to do is to set a government going, to fill its 
offices with intelligent Filipinos, and then to abandon 
the islands, one may readily fix a time for the purpose, 
but that is not my idea of the duty of the United 
States^ now that we are in the islands. If it is, our 
plan of education is wholly at fault. The moment 
that we move out of the islands, if we leave in the 



THE QUESTION OF INDEPENDENCE. 531 

few years proposed, the American teachers will go, 
and the study of English, which has received such 
an impetus from their presence, will cease to be 
regarded as a benefit, education will fall by the way- 
side, and a return will rapidly be made to the condi- 
tion which existed under Aguinaldo. 

• ••••• 

ITow, in such a condition of things, when the pres- 
ence of the United States in the islands is necessary 
to maintain order and sustain a well-ordered govern- 
ment, to secure civil rights to the people, and to aliens 
with vested interests, it seems to me most unwise 
to introduce an issue by a promise of conditional 
independence which will wean the people away from 
the importance of the present government and invite 
them to a discussion of the wisdom of an absolute 
change. If the people are fit for self-government, 
then I agree that the declaration ought to be made, 
and that we ought to turn the islands over. It is a dif- 
ference on this point that is the real difference between 
the signers of the petition to the conventions for a 
promise of independence and those who oppose the 
signers. I have heard it said by people who have not 
thought much on the subject that they did not see 
any great difference between the view of the sign- 
ers of the petition for independence and mine. 
The difference is fundamental. They are really 
in favor of an Aguinaldo government with a gloss of 
declarations in favor of liberty and constitutional 



532 THE PHILIPPINES. 

freedom and the bill of rights, which, I verily believe, 
will never have any force whatever. I am in favor 
of teaching the people how to govern themselves, and 
I cannot assume that such a lesson, so difficult to learn, 
can be taught to a people 90 per cent, of whom are 
grossly ignorant to-day, without any political experi- 
ence whatever, in five years, as some of our opponents 
say, or in twenty years, as others suggest. 

I regard the learning of English as one of the im- 
portant steps in the education of these people, im- 
portant in creating a solidarity among the people ami 
in enabling the people to understand each other, 
important in bringing them into touch with the Anglo- 
Saxon world where they shall drink in the principles 
of civil liberty. My standpoint is the benefit of the 
^Filipino people. To state the matter succinctly, we 
have secured to the Filipinos, by what we have done, 
civil liberty, and we are gradually extending to therii 
political control. What the opponents of our policy 
in effect and result are contending for is that we 
should turn the islands over to a small minority, Avho 
will establish a government in which civil liberty 
WILL BE LOST and political control reside with a few. 
The standpoint of the signers of the petition and 
others who stand with them seems to be that of de- 
cently getting rid of a nasty job. I differ with them 
first, in thinking that the discharge of the duty which 
is imposed upon us is a bad job or that it is going to 
involve any such disaster as is prophesied. It is 



THE LOGIC OF THE SITUATION. 533 

flaid that it will implant the spirit of tyranny and 
absolutism in this comitry. 

As long as those who exercise authority in the 
Philippine Islands are responsible to the eighty mil- 
lions of people in this country the spirit of absolutism 
is sure to be kept well in abeyance. What it will 
develop, on the contrary, is the spirit of altruism, of 
a desire to help a poor people who need our help, of 
a desire to lift them up and to do it at the expense of 
great national effort and sacrifice. Xow, this is said 
to be, by those who speak for the petitioners, so 
altruistic as to be what they would call ^'sentimental'^ 
or ''lunar politics." I do not agree. Those who urge 
the delivery over of the islands in a few years evi- 
dently think it sufficient if we frame a government, 
set it w^orking, and let it go. In their anxiety to get 
rid of the islands, they put themselves unconsciously 
in the attitude of the United States Senator who, in 
expressing his earnest desire to get rid of the Philip- 
pines, CONSIGNED THEM TO HELL. Their auxicty finds 
its reason in the fear that the American people, deriv- 
ing advantage from association with the Philippine 
Islands of a commercial and financial character, will 
never be willing to give up their control over the 
islands, how^ever fit the Filipinos may become for self- 
government. It is their distrust of the American 
people that leads such men into anxiety to get rid of 
the Filipino people before the association shall be- 
come profitable. 



oc 



534 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Xow, I do not think that this feeling is justified, 
because I feel sure that after the Filipino people 
become well educated, and we have a decent gov- 
ernment there in which the Filipino people take part, 
and the Filipino people request independence, the 
American people will grant it to them. Why should 
we be impatient to leave the islands ? If we may 
properly stay five ^ears or twenty years to prepare 
the people, what objection on principle can there be 
to our staying until our work is thoroughly done ? 
If it will take forty or fifty years thoroughly to pre- 
pare the people for popular government, is it not wiser 
and better for the Filipinos to maintain the present 
relation for that time than to allow the people to go 
at the end of five years and fall into the habits of 
certain so-called republics of revolution, anarchy, and 
all sorts of misgovernments ? I do not dwell upon a 
danger which will arise if we set going a government 
that cannot maintain order and protect vested rights, 
but foreign intervention in such a case is most proba- 
ble. In such event the amount of self-government 
allowed to the Filipinos by an intervening European 
government is not likely to strain their capac- 
ity, however limited. But it is said that the influ- 
ence of governing the Philippines for a long time 
upon our Government will be bad. I do not think 
that thus far it has had an evil influence. 

If it were a spoils government there, I agree that 
it might become a stench in the nostrils of everyone. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE ISLANDS. 535 

but as a matter of fact tlie government has been en- 
tirely nonpartisan. Without knowing the politics of 
all the judges, and the other appointees of the islands, 
I think it only fair to say that there are about as 
many Democrats in the government as there are Re- 
publicans. A civil-service law, much more stringent 
than the national civil-service law, is enforced with 
fidelity, and while there is much difficulty in obtain- 
ing a suitable personnel for the whole government in 
the islands, I think we have been fairly successful in 
getting competent agents. ^Miile the criticism of the 
anti-imperialists and their attacks upon the policy of 
the Government worked great injury in misleading 
the Filipinos into a continuance of the war, their 
criticism has perhaps unwittingly been of some value 
in upholding the standard of the government in 
the islands, because it has put that government on 
trial from the beginning, and has made every mem- 
ber of it strain himself to make it worthy of approval. 
A\Tiat the Filipino people need now, first of all, 
is material development in the islands, and that the 
people of the United States can secure them if the 
Philippine government is given the requisite powers. 
It is a development that under an independent govern- 
ment would come much more slowly (if indeed it 
came at all) than it will under the auspices of the 
Government of the United States. Capital w^ll feel 
greatly more secure under a government which has 
the guiding hand and brake of the United States 



536 THE PHILIPPINES. 

than it would under Agninaldo and his followers. 
The cost to the people of getting capital into the coun- 
try will be vastly reduced. The permanence of the 
improvements and their character will be much bet- 
ter for the country under present conditions than 
where the uncertainty of a changing government will 
treble or quadruple the risk. 

Our policy in the Philippines must be ^'The Phil- 
ippines for the Filipinos." This duty we have as- 
sumed and it is the duty which we shall doubtless dis- 
charge. It is fortunate that this policy is also the 
best policy , from a selfish standpoint, for thus we 
have additional assurance of its being maintained. 
The more we develop the islands, the more we teach 
the Filipinos the methods of maintaining well-ordered 
government, the more tranquility succeeds in the 
islands, the better the business, the greater the 
products, and the more profitable the association with 
those islands in a business way. If we ultimately 
take the Philippines in behind the tariff wall, as I 
hope and pray we may, and give them the benefit for 
their peculiar products of the markets of the United 
States, it will have a tendency to develop that 
WHOLE coiTNTEY, of iuvitiug the capital of the United 
States into the islands, and of creating a trade be- 
tween the islands and this country which cannot but 
be beneficial to both. I^ow, under these circum- 
stances, is it impracticable, is it wild to suppose that 



THE POPULAR ASSEMBLY. 537 

the people of the islands will understand the benefit 
that they derive from such association with the United 
States and w^ill prefer to maintain some sort of bond 
60 that they may be within the tariff wall and enjoy 
the markets, rather than separate themselves and 
become independent and lose the valuable business 
which our guardianship of them and our obligation 
to look after them has brought to them ? 

Have we not given an earnest of our real desire to 
teach them the science of self-government by provid- 
ing that in two years after the census shall be pub- 
lished a popular assembly, which shall exercise equal 
authority Avith the Commission in a legislative way 
in the islands, shall be elected by popular vote ? I do 
not look for very encouraging results from the first 
or second session of this assembly. I have no doubt 
that in the beginning there will be in the assembly ex- 
treme and violent partisans of innnediate indepen- 
dence and of autonomy and a protectorate and of a 
great many other impracticable schemes, some of 
which will include attempts to obstruct the govern- 
ment. By proposed legislation of various kinds, mem- 
bers will seek to accomplish purposes that are incapa- 
ble of accomplishment by legislation, but I shall not 
be discouraged at this, for that is to be expected of a 
people who have had no legislative experience. 

Ultimately they will reach the safe and sane con- 
clusion that laws which are to be passed are those 
which their experience justifies, and that discussion 



538 THE PHILIPPINES. 

and analysis and calm consideration and self-restraint 
are all necessary for successful legislative measures. 
It is said that we are giving them this legislature too 
soon. I think my friend, Mr. Colquhoun, thinks so. 
For my part I think not. The people desire it. It 
will be an imperfect but useful medium of communi- 
cating their wishes, and it will offer the most valuable 
school to the intelligent part of the population in 
the science of government. It must be borne in 
mind that it is not only the 90 per cent, of ignorant 
Filipinos who need to be tutored in the art of self- 
government, but the reinaining 10 per cent., even in- 
cluding the 1 per cent, of the cultured and educated, 
are sadly in need of political education, and they may 
find it in the popular assembly and may learn the 
difference between theory and practice in carrying 
on a just government. 

Does it not seem rather unreasonable now to insist 
upon promising independence in advance even of the 
trial of the test of political capacity in the control of 
one legislative chamber ? 

But I am asked how capable of self-government 
must the people become before we give them an 

OPPORTUinTY TO BE INDEPENDENT^ if they will. Is 

it to be a perfect government like Plato's Republic ? 
If so, it will never come. The government by the 
people of the Philippine Islands, like the government 
by the people of other countries, will always have 
defects. The only standard which can be laid down 



THE DUTY OF THE UNITED STATES. 539 

is that the common people shall be educated by ele- 
mentary education to understand simple principles of 
government, and to be capable of forming an intelli- 
gent opinion, which shall control their officers while 
in office. People among Avhom there is an intelligent 
public opinion are capable of self-government. That 
is the goal toward which we ought to move in the 
Philippine Islands. If we follow out the programme, 
which I hope we may, and it wins supporters as it 
progresses, Ave may reasonably count on obtaining the 
gratitude of the people of the Philippine Islands, 
which President McKinley spoke of in his instruc- 
tions to Secretary Root, when he said : 

^^A HIGH AND SACRED OBLIGATION rCStS UpOU tllC 

Government of the United States to give protection 
for property and life, civil and religious freedom, 
and wise, firm and unselfish guidance in the paths of 
peace and prosperity to all the people of the Philip- 
pine Islands. I charge this Commission to labor for 
the full performance of this obligation, which con- 
cerns the honor and conscience of their country, in 
the firm hope that through their labors all the inhabi- 
tants of the Philippine Islands may come to look 
back with gratitude to the day when God gave vic- 
tory to American arms at Manila and set their land 
under the sovereignty and protection of the people of 
the United States." 



540 THE PHILIPPINES. 

Concerning tlie objection that this is a new busi- 
ness for the United States, which will have a demoral- 
izing effect upon the nation, I think no one is able 
to point out any injury which has thus far resulted to 
the people of the United States except the expense 
attendant upon the maintenance of law and order in 
the islands during the insurrection, and the regret- 
table loss of life which occurred. Certainly no one 
thus far can show the baleful effects of that dreadful 
spirit of greed which the opponents of the policy are 
so prone to see in everything done with respect to the 
Philippines. I challenge them to point out anything 
which has been done to the Philippine Islands, 
either immediately under the government there es- 
tablished, or by the United States, which savors in 
the least of a selfish use of those islands for the 
benefit, either of the individuals in the United States 
or of the Government itself. The only thing which 
can be seriously made the basis of such a charge was 
the attempt during the present session of Congress 
to put in force the coastwise trading laws for the 
benefit of the shipping of the United States in respect 
to the trans-oceanic trade between the islands and 
the United States, and that by Act of Congress has 
now been postponed for two years longer. There has 
been a rebate provided of the export duty on hemp 
imported directly from the islands to the United 
States. This has not affected injuriously the trade of 
the islands, because the demand for hemp is so great 



TAXPAYING CAPACITY. 541 

that the islands have a monopoly in respect to it. 
There has unexpectedly been caused by the rebate a 
reduction of the income in the islands of about $250,- 
000, because the equivalent Avhich was provided as a 
counter benefit, to wit, the duties to be collected on 
imports from the islands into the United States, has 
not equaled the aggregate rebate on the hemp. This, 
however, was a miscalculation by the legislators that 
was pardonable and can easily be rectified. In every 
other respect the legislation which has been enacted 
has been in favor of the islands, including a gift 
of three millions of dollars for the purpose of re- 
lieving distress there. The attitude of those who sup- 
port the Government in its policy is altruistic. It is 
of one who out of a feeling friendly to the Fili- 
pinos would sacrifice much to accomplish the pur- 
poses of the Administration there. It is a feeling 
wdiich does the nation credit, and a feeling that a 
nation of the wealth and poAver that this nation has 
may well afford to encourage. 

The islands themselves give every indication of fur- 
nishing revenue sufficient to carry out the plans Avhich 
the United States may properly carry out in the ma- 
terial and intellectual development of the country and 
its people. The taxpaying capacity of the country 
is, of course, determined by that w^hich it produces 
for domestic and foreign use. For the last two or 
three years the wealth produced in the islands has 



542 THE PHILIPPINES. 

been seriously impaired and reduced, not only by 
the war and the cholera, but also and chiefly by the 
loss of draft animals, ninety per cent, of Avhich have 
succumbed to the rinderpest. Agriculture has been 
dependent upon such animals and the recovery from 
this blow must necessarily be slow. Congress appro- 
priated three millions of dollars to assist the islands 
in restocking plantations, but the enormous difficulties 
attending the importation from other coimtries of 
cattle which are able to live in the Philippines are 
only known to those who have attempted it. I am 
glad to say, however, that our scientists in the islands 
have discovered a method of preventing a recurrence 
and spread of the disease, so that when the plantations 
are restocked rinderpest will have ]^o teerors for 
THE FARMERS. With normal conditions in agricul- 
ture, when the cattle shall have been restored bv 
breeding and otherwise to their usual number, the 
islands will always be self-supporting, and will, doubt- 
less, furnish a surplus of revenue w^ith which to meet 
the demands for improvements which present them- 
selves in every part of the islands. 

The Philippine Archipelago is the only country in 
which can be produced Avhat is kno^^m as Manila 
hemp, or what is called in the Spanish language 
"ahacaf* ... Of the forty-one provinces of 
the Philippine Islands, at least fifteen now produce 
commercial quantities of hemp. To-day, owing to 
the insufficient means of communication and trans- 



NATURAL RESOURCES. 543 

portation, many fields of hemp are allowed to rot and 
are not stripped or used. In many of the provinces 
there is wild hemp which is not so good in texture and 
which it would be necessary to replace by cultivated 
plants w^ere the opportunity offered to put it on the 
market. From experiments by our Agricultural Bu- 
reau, I have no doubt that the number of provinces in 
which hemp could be raised might be doubled. The 
DEMAND FOR HEMP IS SO GREAT that while an increase 
in its production might reduce the price, the total 
product would far exceed in value that which the sta- 
tistics now show. 

Many parts of the islands arc very rich in cocoa- 
nuts. ... In the province of Laguna within the 
last two years, since the war was over, there have been 
planted more than five times the number of trees 
which were there before. There is a constant market 
for copra, which is the dried meat of the cocoanut, 
and the price is rising. Since the demand for hemp 
and cocoanuts has increased so largely planters have 
abandoned the raising of rice, preferring to buy their 
food out of the profit of the hemp or cocoanut indus- 
try. Therefore, for ten or fifteen years it has been 
the habit of the islands to import rice, although there 
are no islands where rice will grow to better advantage 
than in the Philippines. The amount of importation, 
however, was comparatively small until the destruc- 
tion of the draft cattle, three years ago, which re- 
duced the actual amount of rice production in the 



544 THE PHILIPPINES. 

islands far below Avliat was necessary to feed the peo- 
ple, and during the last year about $12,000,000, gold, 
had to be expended in importing rice from French 
China. 

The sugar and tobacco industries in the islands are 

CAPABLE OF A CONSIDERABLE INCREASE. The Islaud 

of E'egros contains sugar land as rich as any in the 
world, and the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela and 
Union, contain tobacco lands which, next to Cuba, 
produce the best tobacco in the world, but the trouble 
is that the markets for such sugar and tobacco have 
been, by tariffs imposed in various countries, very 
much reduced. Should the markets of the United 
States be opened to the Philippines, it is certain that 
both the sugar and the tobacco industry would become 
thriving, and although the total amount of the product 
in each would probably not affect the American mar- 
ket at all, so extensive is the demand here for both 
tobacco and sugar it would mean the difference be- 
tween poverty and prosperity in the islands. I know 
that the reduction of the tariff for this purpose is 
much opposed by the interests w^hich represent beet 
sugar and tobacco, but I believe that a great majority 
of the people of the United States are in favor of 
opening the markets to the Philippine Islands, con- 
scious that it will not destroy either the beet sugar or 
the tobacco industry of this country, and feeling that 
as long as we maintain the association which we now 
have with the Philippine Islands, it is our duty to 



TRADE RELATIONS. 545 

GIVE THEM THE BENEFIT of the markets of the United 
States and bring them as close to our people and our 
trade as possible. INTothing else will justify the appli- 
cation of the coastwise trading laws to the trans- 
oceanic trade between the United States and the Phil- 
ippine Islands, but if they are invited to partake of 
the benefits of the protection theory, they may well be 
subjected to the rule that as between the United States 
and themselves the products are to be transferred in 
American bottoms. 

Another immense source of wealth in the islands 
is the ALMOST INEXHAUSTIBLE SUPPLY of the most 
beautiful woods, of rubber, and of the most valuable 
gums. These sources of wealth are hardly developed. 

And now what as to the existing trade between 
the United States and the Philippines. It is still 
quite small, not exceeding five millions in any one 
year of merchandise transferred from the United 
States to the Philippines, but increasing largely in 
the products transferred from the Philippines to the 
United States. The latter increase, however, is not a 
natural one. It is brought about by Congressional 
legislation already mentioned, which confers the bene- 
fit of $7.40 a ton rebate from export tax upon all 
hemp transported directly from the Philippines to the 
United States. The total business done between the 
United States and the Philippines is something like 
seventeen millions. With the restoration of normal 
conditions in the islands, with the construction of 

85 



546 THE PHILIPPINES. 

railways and other material development, then I have 
no doubt that this trade between the United States 
and the islands would be trebled in the course of five 
years. 

The conditions with respect to the business of the 
United States merchants in the islands to-day are un- 
fortunate, and their cause can easily be traced. The 
Government of the United States went into the 
islands under a distinct promise that it would gov- 
ern the Philippines for the benefit of the Filipinos ; 
that it would extend self-government to the Fili- 
pinos as rapidly as they showed themselves fit for it, 
and that as many Filipinos as possible would be used 
in the personnel of the Government. This has always 
been the attitude of the Government, and never, so 
far as I know, has there been a single step of de- 
parture from it. It was the attitude declared before 
the war of insurrection began, while it was pending, 
and at its close, and no resistance on the part of the 
natives has varied our position in that regard. This 
policy did not meet, as was natural, the ready assent 
of all the army or of those persons who were in sym- 
pathy with the army. The adventuresome spirits who 
followed the army for the purpose of establishing a 
business in its wake found that they had all that they 
could do to supply the demand made by the army for 
American goods, and as American capital came in 
driblets or in larger sums it was turned into the busi- 
ness of supplying the army with those things which 



THE LOCAL BUSINESS. 547 

the Government did not supply. Four or ^ve trading 
companies were thus organized, embracing substan- 
tially all the American enterprise that has appeared 
in the islands during the first three or four years 
of American occupation, xlmerican merchants thus 
situated easily caught the feeling of hostility 
and contempt felt by many of the soldiers for the 
Filipinos, and were most emphatic in condemning the 
policy of the Government in attempting to attract the 
Filipinos and make them so far as might be a part 
of the new civil order. The American newspapers 
which were established readily took the tone of their 
advertisers and their subscribers, and hence it is that 
the American community in the Philippines to-day is 
largely an anti-Filipino community. The 75,000 sol- 
diers whose demands for supplies made their busi- 
ness so profitable, have now been reduced to 15,000, 
and the market which made the American merchants 
for a time independent of the Filipinos has now 
almost entirely disappeared. The condemnation by 
such merchants of the Civil Government continues, 
and they do not hesitate to make the Government the 
scapegoat for the failure of business to improve. The 
fact is that their customers have gone back to the 
United States and that their attitude towards the Fili- 
pinos is such that the Filipinos are not disposed to 
patronize them. This is unfortunate, and there must 
conie into the islands a new set of merchants who shall 
view the situation from an entirely different stand- 



648 THE PHILIPPINES. 

point. There are 7,600,000 Filipinos. Of these, the 
7,000,000 Christian Filipinos are imitative, anxious 
for new ideas, willing to accept them, willing to fol- 
low American styles, American sports, American 
dress and American customs. A large amount of cot- 
ton goods is imported into the islands each year, but 
this is nearly all from England and Germany. There 
is no reason why these cotton goods should not come 
from America, except the fact that there are no 
American houses in the islands that have devoted their 

ATTENTION TO WINNING FiLIPINO TRADE. I am liot 

a business man, but I know enough to assert that it 
is not the best way to attract custom from an alien 
people to call them names, to make fun of them, and 
to decry every effort towards their advancement and 
development. In other words, the American mer- 
chants in the Philippines have gotten off on the wrong 
foot. There should be a radical change. 

There are a few projected railroad lines in the 
Philippines which it would be possible to induce capi- 
tal to build without a guaranty of income, but it is 
wiser, it seems to the Commission, to attempt to in- 
troduce a general system of railways than to have a 
link built here and a link built there and to await 
the process of time before trunk lines shall be es- 
tablished. For instance, it is quite probable that a 
short line of forty or fifty miles would be constructed 
without a guaranty in the province of Legaspi, where 
is the rich hemp business and where it has been cus- 



THE PROJECTED RAILROADS. 5i9 

tomarj during the last two or three hemp seasons to 
pay forty dollars Mexican a day for a carahao cart ; 
so, perhaps, it would be possible to secure the con- 
struction of a line without a guaranty from Manila 
south to Batangas, though of this I am not certain. 
"With the hope, however, of bringing capital in con- 
siderable amount to the islands, a bill has been pre- 
pared, which has passed the House, authorizing the 
Philippine Government to grant fra^s^chises for the 
CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS witli a guaranty of in- 
come of not more than five per cent, on the amount 
actually invested for not exceeding thirty years. In 
most cases a guaranty of a less percentage w^ould be 
sufficient, but my impression is that with respect to 
the main trunk line from Aparri to Manila, the diffi- 
culties of construction and the delay in securing a 
profitable business would probably require an as- 
surance of five per cent, dividends. The opposition 
of those who oppose the investment of any American 
capital in the islands which shall furnish a motive 
for a longer association between the two countries 
than is absolutely necessary may postpone the passage 
of the bill until the next session of Congress.* I shall 
deeply regret the delay, bvit I am not discouraged, for 
as long as I continue in my present position I expect 



* The Commission has been granted authority to malie 
the . contracts in question and construction will be com- 
menced upon the contemplated railroad sj^stem early in 
190C. — Author. 



550 THE PHILIPPINES. 

to press the legitimate claims of the Philippine 
Islands upon a just and generous Government for 
such authority in the local government as will permit 
a proper development of the material resources of the 
islands; and the delay in legislation, which is inci- 
dent, not to the opposition of a majority but to the 
opposition of a small minority, w^hile it is apt to try 
one's patience, ought nevertheless not to discourage. 

I come now to the question of labor^ which has 
been made the basis for the most discouraging ac- 
counts of conditions in the Philippine Islands. The 
Pilipino is a tropical laborer. In times past a large 
amount of rice has been raised in the islands, a large 
amount of tobacco, a large amount of sugar, and a 
large amount of hemp, and they all involve, as a ma- 
terial part of the cost of their production, the labor 
of the natives. The Chinamen, who have been said 
by mistaken persons to number a million or a million 
and a half in the islands, in fact do not number 100,- 
000, and none of them do any agricultural work of 
any kind in the Philippine Islands. The Filipino is 
naturally an agriculturist. AMien you go through his 
village in the middle of the day you will probably see 
him lounging about the window or on the seat in front 
of his house, and you will ascribe to him the laziest 
habits, because you do not know that he has been 
up at four o'clock in the morning and has worked 
from that time until nine or ten in the fields, and 
that he will begin work again at four o'clock and work 



THE LABOR QUESTION. 551 

for two or three hours until sundown or later. The 
American merchant is loud in his denunciation of the 
insufficiency of the Filipino laborer. This is because 

the PRICE OF LABOR HAS PROBABLY DOUBLED siuCC the 

Americans went there, and he has heard the tale of 
how cheap labor was before the Spanish regime ended. 
He also compared the cost of labor in the Philippine 
Islands with that in Hong Kong, and he finds that 
is very considerably less all over China. I am not 
contending that the labor in the Philippines is as good 
as Chinese labor, for that labor is the best in the 
world, probably, when economy in wages and effi- 
ciency in product are considered, but what I wish to 
dispute is that the labor conditions in the Philippines 
are hopeless. The city of Manila has under its con- 
trol, and in its employment, about 3,000 laborers, and 
they are paid all the way from fifty cents Mexican to 
$1.25 Mexican, and there is no complaint whatever 
on the part of the authorities that their work is not 
properly and well done. The Quartermaster's De- 
partment of the army has about the same number, 
and their reports of the efficiency of Filipino labor 
are exceedingly encouraging. We have now employed 
really as coolies on the BengTiet Koad in the most 
difficult drilling and construction work about 3,000 
natives, and while their efficiency is nothing like that 
of the American, in the accomplishment of work in 
proportion to the pay, they probably get through about 
as much. The men who are constructing the harbor 



552 THE PHILIPPINES. 

works at Manila — The Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf 
Company — have employed upwards of 800 to 1,000 
Pilipinos in their quarries. At first they found it 
very difficult to secure workmen, but now they have 
MOKE LABOR THAiq- THEY NEED. They usc about eight 
per cent, of white foremen and the rest natives. They 
give to the natives houses, furnish a church, a band, a 
cock pit and a school. On their fiesta days they give 
them vacation. They have less desertions, less absen- 
teeism, than with Americans. These experiments 
only show that the solution of the labor problem in 
the Philippines is teaching the Filipinos how to work. 
Sir William Van Home reports that he found much 
difficulty originally in the construction of the Cuban 
railways because the natives were not acquainted with 
how the work should be done, but that by means of 
white foremen they were easily taught, and that then 
they made good laborers. I feel sure that the same . 
thing will prove to be true of the Filipinos. 

There is doubtless a great deal of mineral wealth in 
the islands, but it will only be available after trans- 
portation shall have been introduced. It is not an 
island with a bonanza mine in it, though at some dis- 
tant day such a vein may be discovered there. There 
is CERTAii^LY COAL T^ THE iSLAi^'DS in Considerable 
quantities. There is now between the islands a con- 
siderable inter-island trade, and there are quite a large 
number of ships engaged therein. Without it the 
islands could not live ; it is their arterial circulation. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 553 

The present system might be much improved by in- 
troducing American generous methods of dealing 
with the public. About two and a half millions of 
capital has been invested in a street railway in 
Manila, which will be completed next Thanksgiving 
Day.* This will certainly change one of the annoying 
and expensive features of Manila life, and will give 
to the residents of the city opportunity to cut down 
their present expense of living at least twenty-five per 
cent. There is no city in the w^orld where there is so 
much traveling done in carriages, due to the fact that 
people may not walk about safely under the tropical 
sun. The presence of a street railway will do away 
with the necessity for many of these conveyances, and 
the streets will be less used and their condition much 
improved. 

There is a sufficient continuous fall of water in 
STREAMS within practicable distance of Manila to fur- 
nish electrical power exceeding fifteen thousand horse 
power. With the high price of coal this is an im- 
portant aid to manufacturers. 

The English houses and the Spanish houses who 
have dealt in the export trade in the islands have 
earned large profits during the occupancy of the 
United States. 

It is said that the health of the islands is such as 
to preclude Americans from going there. This is not 

* It is now operating about thirty-five miles of line in a 
highly satisfactory manner. — Author. 



554 THE PHILIPPINES. 

true. The climate does prevent one from going out 
into the sun in the middle of the day, and so prevents 
his working in the fields as a laboring man, but it is 
entirely possible for one to live in the islands for 
years, and if he does not neglect the ordinary rules 
of hygiene, to be free from bad health. The province 
of Benguet, which is 150 miles from Manila, and 
which will soon be reached by a railroad and an elec- 
tric road in twelve hours, offers a climate quite like 
the summer climate of the Adirondacks or of Canada. 
Under the land regulations, which go into force at 
the time of the adjournment of Congress, a summer 
CAPITAL IS TO BE ESTABLISHED at Baguio, and town 
lots in the same place will be offered at public auc- 
tion. Americans engaged in business may, at small 
cost, buy lots and erect houses and live there as many 
months of the year as they choose, except the months 
of August and September, which are usually so wet 
as to make it unprofitable. During remaining months 
of the year the climate is beautiful, the temperature 
going down as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit, and 
rarely, if ever, reaching 80 degrees. 

It is estimated that not more than five millions of 
acres of land are owned by natives in the islands, and 
that the remainder, sixty-five millions, is owned by 
the Government. This remainder will, under the land 
regulations, be opened for settlement and purchase 
at the adjournment of the present session of Con- 
gress. There is every prospect that the land will be 



THE REQUISITE OF PROSPERITY. 555 

taken up by both Filipinos and Americans. The 
maximum limitation for purchase by a company is 
2,500 acres. This limitation is much too low for 
the cultivation of sugar, but is sufficiently extensive 
for the cultivation of other products. There is a pro- 
vision in the law by which irrigation companies may 
own stock in land companies, so that probably the lim- 
itation may be evaded if private profit requires. The 

FUTURE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS of COUrSC it 

would be dangerous to prophesy with certainty, but 
Avith a change in the hygienic conditions that surround 
life, due to an effective board of health, with a sup- 
ply of pure water from the sinking of driven wells all 
over the country, which the pending bill in Congress 
will encourage, I feel sure that the population will 
rapidly increase. 

We hold the Philippines for the benefit of Fili- 
pinos and we are not entitled to pass a single act or 
approve a single measure that has not that as its chief 
purpose. But it so happens, and it fortunately so 
happens, that generally everything we do for the 
benefit of the Filipinos and the Philippines will only 
make their association with the United States more 
profitable to the United States. I do not base my 
prayer for a continuance of the present policy toward 
the Philippine Islands on selfish grounds, but as this 
is the Chamber of Commerce, and as it is naturally 
interested in the possibilities of commerce in these dis- 
tant islands, I have felt justified in referring more 



656 THE PHILIPPINES. 

than heretofore to the industrial conditions existing 
there and the possibility of improvement and the in- 
crease of trade between the United States and the 
Philippines. 

The fikst requisite of prosperity in the Philip- 
pine Islands is tranquility, and this should be evi- 
denced by a well-ordered government. The Filipinos 
must be taught the advantages of such a government, 
and they should learn from the government which is 
given them the disadvantages that arise to everybody 
in the country from political agitation for a change 
in the form of government in the immediate future. 
Hence it is that I have ventured to oppose with all 
the argument that I could bring to bear the petition 
to the political conventions asking that independence 
be promised to the Filipinos. It is not that I am 
opposed to independence in the islands, should the 
people of the Philippines desire independence w^hen 
they are fitted for it, but it is that the great present 
need in the islands is tranquility, the great present 
need in the islands is the building up of a permanent, 
well-ordered government, the great present need in 
the islands is the increase of the saving remnant of 
conservative Filipinos whose aid in uplifting and 
maintaining the present government on a partly popu- 
lar and strictly civil liberty basis, shall be secured. A 
promise such as that which is petitioned for cannot 
but introduce at once into the politics of the islands 
the issue of independence, of present fitness for self- 



THE BROADER POLICY. 557 

government, and will frighten away from the sup- 
port of the present government the conservative ele- 
ment which is essential to its success, and yet which 
is always timid lest by a change bringing the violent 
and the irreconcilable to the front, they shall suffer 
by reason of their prominence in aid of the present 
government. The promise to give independence helps 
no one. Theee is no need of that promise to 
secure tranquility because we have tranquility in the 
islands. It is certain to be misunderstood as a prom- 
ise to be complied with in the present generation, and 
if, as is probable, the people shall not be fitted for self- 
government in the present or the next generation, then 
the failure to give it will be regarded as a breach. 
Why not let the politics of the islands take care of 
themselves ? Why should the good people who signed 
the petition intermeddle with something the effect of 
which they are very little able to understand. Why 
not take the broader policy, which is that of doing 
everything beneficial to the Philippine Islands, of 
giving them a full market, of offering them an op- 
portunity to have railroads built extensively through 
the islands, and of having a tranquility which is essen- 
tial to the development of their business and their 
prosperity ; why not insist on the spread of the educa- 
tional system, of an improvement in the health laws, 
and subject everything that is done in the islands to 
an examination as to whether it is beneficial to the 
Filipino people, and then when all has been done 



558 THE PHILIPPINES. 

for the Philippines that a government can do, and 
they have been elevated and taught the dignity of 
labor, the wisdom ol civil liberty and self-restraint in 
the political control indispensable to the enjoyment of 
civil liberty, when they have learned the principles of 
successful popular self-government from a gradually 
enlarged experience therein, we can discuss the ques- 
tion whether independence is w^hat they desire and 
grant it, or whether they prefer the retention of a 
closer association with the country Avhich, by its guid- 
ance, has unselfishly led them on to better conditions. 



INDEX. 



INDEX 



Abaca, 47, 65. 

conditions of culture, 287- 

89. 
expenses and profits of 
cultivation, 292-95, 542, 
543, 
export trade, 259-62. 
habitat, 286. 

bemp districts, 286, 287. 
method of extraction, 289- 
92. 
Aborigines, vide Negritos. 
Abra, Province of, 33. 
Agno River, 30. 
Agriculture, 285-345. 
abaca, 286-95. 
cacao, 334-44. 
coffee, 323-30. 
copra and cocoanut oil, 311- 

19. 
cotton, 297, 298. 
field for Americans, 351-53. 
Filipino laborers, 349-51. 
maguey, 296, 297. 
minor products, 344-47. 
primitive methods, 347-49. 
rice, 331-34. 
sugar, 298-301. 
tobacco, .301-10. 
Agusan River, 59. 
Albay, Province of, 47, 48, 

388 
Alcaldes. 182, 183. 
Ambos Camarines, Province 

of, 45, 46. 
American administration, 205- 
29. 
administration of justice, 

213, 214. 
autonomy, 517, 518. 
bonded ind' btedness, 228, 
229. 



American admin. — Continued, 

census, 230-38. 

central government and leg- 
islative authority, 205-09. 

civil service, 215, 216. 

currency, 219, 220. 

education, 218, 219, 519-21. 

friars, 526-29. 

government of Manila, 227, 
228. 

government positions, 217. 

health, 231. 

judiciarj^ system, 523, 524. 

means of communication, 
220, 221. 

navigation, 230, 231. 

popular assembly, 537. 

provincial and municipal 
governments, 210-13. 

public works, 521-23. 

review of, by Secretary 
Taft, 517-57. 

sources of revenue, 230. 

suppression of ladronism, 
519. 
Apo Volcano, 60, 61. 
Audencia, 192-94. 

Bajaus, 105. 

Bamboo, 246. 

Banditti, 472, 473, 519, 525. 

Bataan, Province of, 37. 

Batangas, Province of, 42, 43. 

Bataan, Province of. 42, 43. 

Benguet, Province of, 34, 35, 

278, 385, 387. 
Binondo, 410-12. 
Bohol, Island of — 
characteristics of natives, 

483, 484. 
physical features, resources, 
etc., 53, 54. 



561 



562 



INDEX. 



Bohol, Island of — Continued. 

population and area, 18. 

Siquijor, 484-86. 

uprising in, 1.54, 155. 
Bonded indebtedness, 228, 229. 
British invasion, 151, 152. 
Bulacan, Province of, 39, 40. 

Cacao, 334-44. 

cultivation, 335-37. 

expense and profits, 337-44. 
Cagayan, Province of, 32, 33. 

River, 30. 
Carabao, 348, 349, 441-43. 
Cathedral, 402-04. 
Cattle-raising, 381-85, 478. 
Cavite, 397, 398. 

insurrection, 156, 157. 

Province of, 412. 
Cebu City, 479-82, 522. 
Cebu, Island of — 

capital, 479-82. 

physical features, resources, 
etc., 54, 55. 

population and area. 18. 

proposed railroad, 57. 

uprisings in, 483. 
Census, 230-38. 
Chinese — 

conflicts with, 145-47. -^ 

costume and manner of life, 
414, 415. 

expulsion of, 147. 

immigration, 144. 

influence on trade, 147, 148. 

invnsion, 96, 97. 
Churches, 405. 

Civil service system, 115-17. 
Climate. 69-71." 
Coal, 44. 48. .387-89. 
Cock-fighting. 418-20, 453, 454. 
Cocoanut oil. 311-13, 468. 
Coffee, 67, 274, 275. 

culture, 323-26. 

in Benguet, 327-30, 



Commerce, 224, 241-81, 

balance of trade, 253-57. 
export trade, 257-75. 
internal, 466. 
Manila's future, 423-26. 
Manila opened to foreign, 

247. 
map, 425. 
Real Compaiiia Filipinas, 

244-47. 
trade with Mexico, 241-44. 
transportation, 276-81. 
Copper, 68, 385, 386. 
Copra, 66, 273, 274, 313-19, 

468, 
Costumes, 412, 414. 
Cotton fiber, 297, 298. 
Cultivation, area of, 358, 359; 

vide various products. 
Currency system, 219, 220. 

Datos, vide Mores. 
Dutch attack the Colony, 143, 
144. 

Early inhabitants. 82-90. 
Earthquakes, 28, 29, 399, 400. 
Education of the Filipinos, 

218, 219, 519-21. 
Elcano, Juan Sebastian, the 

first circumnavigator of 

the world, 122. 
Encomenderos, 113, 114, 181, 

1S2. 
Export trade, 257-75, 



Fauna of the Philippines, G3, 

64. 
Filipinos — 

as laborers. .^tq.5t. 550-52. 
character of. 90-100. 
education, 218, 219. 
fitness for self-government. 
529-34. 



INDEX. 



5G3 



Filipinos — Continued. 
home life, 435-41. 
pastimes, 448-60. 
peasant character, 443-45. 
superstitions, 445-47. 
Flora ol" the Philippines, 64-5. 
Forests, 3(>1, 362, 366-76. 
Forestry regulations, 375-76. 
Friars, The — 

attempts to Christianize Ja- 
pan, 140-42, 149, 150. 
conflicts with civil authori- 
ties, 132-36, 527. 
Important services of, 137- 

30. 
loss of influence, 139, 140. 
purchase of their lands, 

221, 222, 528, 529. 
rise in power of, 129-32, 526. 

Gold, 46, 386, 387. 
Governors-general, 180, 181. 
Guimaras, Island of, 467-69. 
Gutta-percha, 385-87. 

Health, 226. 

Highways, 187-89, 221, 278, 

279, 521-23. 
Holy Child of Cebu, 480. 

Igorots, 100-04. 

I locos Norte, Province of, 33, 

34. 
Ilocos Sur, Province of. 33, 34. 
Iloilo. 466-71, 522. 
Import trade, 253-57, 

Indigo, 344, .345. 
Internal dissensions, 128-36. 
Iron, 68, 387. 

Isabella, Province of, 32, 33, 
.381. 

Jolo, vide Sulu. 
Judiciary system, 195-200, 
213-14, 523, 524. 



Juramentados, 499-500. 

Katipunan Sociey, 162. 

Labor, vide Filipinos. 

La Union, Province of, 33, 34. 

Laguna de Bombon, vide Lake 

Taal. 
Laguna, Province of, 40, 41. 
Lake Taal, 22, 23. 
Legaspi, Miguel Lopez de, 
first governor, 123. 
subjects the natives, 124, 
125. 
Lepanto-Bontoc, Province of, 

33, 385, 387. 
Leyte, Island of — 
industries, 486, 487. 
physical features, resources, 

etc., 53. 
population and area, 18. 
proposed railroad, 53. 
uprising in, 155. 
Li Ma Hung invades the Phil- 
ippines, 126, 127. 
Lumber vide woods, commer- 
cial. 
Lumber industry, 369-76. 
Luzon, Island of — 
descripive, 431-60. 
mountains, 21. 
physical features, 20-2. 
population and area, 18. 
provincial division of re- 
sources, 32-48. 
railroad extension, 49. 
rivers, 29-31. 

Magellan, early career of, l*"*o. 
discovers the Philippines, 

122. 
Maguey fiber, 296, 297. 
INIaize. 345. 
Malayan migrations, 79-82, 

491-98. 



564 



INDEX. 



Manila — 
captured by British, 151. 
city improvements, 227. 
commercial future, 423-27. 
description of old and new, 

391-422. 
harbor improvements, 225. 
map of, 401. 

map of proposed improve- 
ments, 418. 
municipal government, 210, 

211. 
opened to foreign trade, 247. 
port improvements, 280, 

281. 
suburbs, 410-18. 
Manila hemp, tide abaca. 
Marinduque, Island of — 
physical features, resources, 

etc., 50. 
population and area, 18. 
Mariveles, 396, 397. 
Masbate, Island of — 
cattle industry, 478. 
physical features, resources, 

etc., 51. 
population and area, 18. 
Mayon volcano, 28, 29. 
Mestizos, 414-16. 
Mindanao, Island of — 
Basilan, 506-08. 
inhabitants, 493-506. 
Malay invasion, 491-93. 
physical features, resources, 

etc., 58-61, 491-.508. 
population and area, 18. 
Mindoro, Island of — 
physical features, resources, 

etc., 50. 
population and area, 18. 
refuge of criminals, 472, 
473. 
Minerals, 46, 48, 58, 68, 69, 

278, 385-89. 
Monteses, 465, 466. 



Moros — 

characteristics and manner 
of living, 106-12. 

clash with Spaniards, 149. 

costumes and customs, 497- 
99. 

datos, 501. 

depredations, 471, 472. 

government, 113. 

invasion of southern arch- 
ipelago, 491-93. 

juramentados, 499, 500. 

origin, 104. 

present tribes, 495-97. 

religion and superstitions, 
502-05. 

social organization, 493-95. 

various tribes, 104-06. 
Municipal government, 189-92, 
210, 211. 

Native uprisings, 152-57, 168- 

72, 179. 
Negritos, 75-8. 
Negros. Island of — 
physical features, resources, 

etc., 55, 56. 
population and area, 18. 
proposed railroad. 56. . 
sugar industry, 473-75. 
Nipa, .34(>, .347. 
Nueva Ecija, Province of, 38, 

39, 381-84. 
Nueva Vizcaya, Province of, 
33, 381-84. 

Pacto de Biac-na-bate, 170, 

171. 
Palace, 404, 405. 
Palawan, vide Paragua. 
Pampanga, Province of, 37, 

38. 
Pampanga River, 30, 31. 
Panay, Island of — • 
capital, 466-71. 



INDEX. 



565 



Panay, Island of — Continued. 

physical features, resources, 
etc., 5(>-8.. 

population and area, 18. 

proposed railroad, 57. 
Pangasinan, Province of, 35, 

3G. 
Paragua, Island of — 

physical features, etc., 58. 

population and area, 18. 
Pasig River, 31, 398, 399. 
Pearl industry, 511-14. 
Philippine Archipelago — 

agriculture, 285-345. 

climate, 69-71. 

commerce, 241-281. 

cultivated area, 359, 360. 

early history, 119-57. 

fauna and flora, 63-5. 

forest lands, 3()1, 362. 

geographical position of, 17. 

inhabitants, 75-116. 

islands contained in, 18. 

minerals, 68. 

physical features, 18-20. 

political, social and eco- 
nomic conditions reviewed 
in addresses of Wm. H. 

population, 112-16. 

public lands, 358, 359. 

rivers, 20. 

Taft (q. v.), 515-59. 
vegetable products. 65, 
Popnlntion, past and present, 

112-16. 
Ports. 280. 281, 466, 479, 481, 

511, 522. 
Postal system. 220. 
Provincial government, 184- 

86, 211. 212. 
Public lands, 357, 358, 554, 

555. 

Railroads. 36. 49, .52. 53, 55, 
56, 57, 276-78, 248-50. 



Revenue, 225, 541. 
Rice, 67, 255, 256. 

varieties, 331, 332. 

yield, 332-34, 543, 544, 

Rio Grande de Mindanao, 59, 

60. 
Rizal, Jose, 163-68. 
Rizal, Province of, 40. 
Rubber plant, 380, 381. 



Salcedo, Juan, 124-26. 
Samals, 79, 80, 82, 104, 106, 

496. 
Samar, Island of — 

capital, 477. 

natural beauties, 475-77. 

physical features, resources, 
etc., 52. 

population and area, 18. 

remontados, 477. 
Santiago fortress, 406-08. 
Siquijor, Island of, 484-86. 
Sorsogon, Province of, 48, 49. 
Spanish administration, 180- 
200. 

alcaldes, 182, 184. 

audencia, 192-94. 

encomenderos, 181, 182. 

governors-general, 180, 181. 

judicial system, 195-200. 

municipal officials, 189-92. 

provincial governors, 184-86. 
Spices, 67. 

Sugar, 66, 262, 269, 298-301, 
468, 469, 473-75, 482-544, 

Sulu Archipelago, vide Sulu 

and Tawi Tawi. 
Sulu City, .509-11. 
Sulu, Island of — • 
capital, .509-11. 
pearl industry, 511-14. 
physical features, resources, 

etc., 62. 
population and area, 18. 



566 



INDEX. 



Taal volcano, 22, 23. 

story of eruption, 24-7. 
Taft, Wm. H., Review of po- 
litical, social and eco- 
nomic conditions of the 
Islands, by, 515-59. 
Tagal rebellion, 168-72. 
Tarlac, Province of, 37. 
Tawi Tawi, Islands of — 
physical features, resources, 

etc., ()2. 
population and area, 18. 
Tayabas, Province of, 43, 44. 
Tea, 68. 

Telegraph and telephone sys- 
tems, 220, 221. 
Teosinte, 345, 346. 
Tobacco, 32, 66, 74, 270-72. 
as an investment, 305-09. 
curing, 303, 304. 
method of cultivation, 301, 

302. 
Visayan, 469, 470, 544, 

Treaty of Paris, 176, 177. 
Tuba, method of gathering, 
467, 468. 



Visayan Islands, ride Mas- 
bate, Leyte, Saniar, Bo- 
hol, Cebu, Negros and 
Panay, 463-514. 

^banditti, 472, 473. 

boat-building, 487. 

characteristics of the na- 
tives, 4<»3-<>5. 

grazing grounds, 478. 

Guimaras, 4<)7-69. 

historic sites, 479-83. 

Iloilo, 466-71. 

natural beauties, 475-77. 

remontados, 478. 

Siquijor, 484-86. 

sugar industry, 473-75. 
Visavans, characteristics of, 

463-65. 
Volcanoes, vide Taal, Mayon 
and Apo. 

Walled City of Manila, 399- 

410. 
Water-power, 553. 
Weaving industries, 470. 
Woods, commercial, 65, 362- 

6<). 

Zacate, 337. 

Zambales, Province of, 36, 37. 



Wy %4 






4'^^\^^£^m 



// c 






% ^^ 



V * ^' 



r> V ^ / 






•a 









^ ^0 



















^^V-^^ <^'^'^% "^ 










1 









xO- 



^fV 






.1 



.i o -> ^\^^^ 



'^ 



<x^^ .^ 












:^^. 



^^A >>^^ 



vOC 



"oo 




\^^x. 



.^ -^^ 






<>• 


■ ^, - ■ 


V 






O, ^ , V 


; V • 


'S ^'^3 






e^yT' 


yP;2~, -f 


Bg; 1 


^ - '"o 0^ 







X^^x. 



' .^0- 



x^^ '^^ ^. 



.0 



,0 



>v 






~0 it r n ^ \V 






"-^p .^\^ 






_ ^ 






■ V^ 







^0 










t^^ -i ^'<' 



.0^ 






0^ 
■r. 



O ^ if 



\^ V <. . <=^^ * 8 1 ^ -^ ^^ , . ... , ^.^ " 3 S ' . ^ 



V * ^ ^ O 



J -.- 'V^ "^s^ 






,V^ "^ 









0^ e « ^ '' -p ''•^^ 



oo' 






.Oo 



o^ 









y^ 



A 



I,' . ■<>■' e 



^V ^. 



r. 









^' % °'>^%<* ^' '^^ 



1) < 



"O 






= ;7 






c; 



0^ t 



>^ c 



.•,y 












^0' 






8 I \ 



^^4^' 



xV .^, 




\ 1 fi 



O^ y 



:^ " , X "* ^*-^ 



->' 



■^c^. 



N '^-^ 



c?^ ^/ 






/- * a N ^ ^^'^^ 









■i- ';.' 



'x-'.'-7;''/ ■"';' •■••-•'■•■■' ''•- ■A';.';,-v"-.''.c.,'^.;-.;;j£.v-^i;:ii 
;..;.' "':!';,;•■:,■ -'-*t. ; ;.:.. i^<^^.r;;.:v;:,■s;;;.:'r^t;^:;:xx;- 















: -f f:. 



■ . - •- . . -. •■.-.',,• .*;r,.". -Ji-*': ."Jiu-xv*;^; 

:. ;;;;;;;V;^^u^' ^■^'■'^:^;•■'i■-X7;■;:.;•'l•;'■•;C^'•>''>^. 



,:>'■ "'* 



'• '■-•:'.":^','r-:H^n;r 










-■ '■■:.' ^',.■'.■1.;-.' 
.'^r^, ;..-.■.•<.,; 

;: •,"'■;;;* X ■;:■.:(';/,;, 

■ ■>■.,,■..' s".'-.'/.t.^'«. 

'•.'.i.;r.' •.■.-< •!> ft, 

. . •'.*..' ;■■, '..iHi<A'. 
;.■; . "../:'.: '^rcy.. 

.' ■ ■.■■ ,;r,;'.^-.,'i'...; Xcj. 

A,'. >'i/;'r.-.;r 
vv>.rwn':,'-.'r-.vv4,^ 



